The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Sunday night in a National League Championship Series rematch a year in the making, taking Game 1 of the series.
The moment that decided it
Rookie Luis Lara stung a first-pitch changeup from Tarik Skubal up the middle to score Garrett Mitchell, who had drawn a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a Cooper Pratt sacrifice bunt. Milwaukee took a fifth-inning lead on a manufactured run and held it for the rest of the game. That approach captured the Brewers’ path to the NLCS, and it showed that this is a different Milwaukee team from the one the Dodgers swept last year.
Milwaukee’s bullpen was the star
The Brewers’ bullpen was the story of the game. DL Hall, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill combined for 4⅔ scoreless innings and worked out of several difficult situations. Ashby deserves special credit. He covered two innings and induced a pair of eighth-inning infield popups, from Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani. Uribe also stranded two runners to keep Milwaukee in front.
Defence bailed out an early struggle
Jacob Misiorowski had problems early, but the Brewers’ infield repeatedly saved him. Milwaukee turned three double plays in the game, including 6-4-3 twin killings to end the first and second innings. After Misiorowski left in the fifth, Hall immediately induced an inning-ending double play to stop another potential rally.
What it means for the Dodgers
This is only the second time since the Dodgers’ championship run began in 2024 that they have lost the opening game of a playoff series. The first was the World Series last year, and they bounced back to beat the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. Yamamoto starts Game 2 on Monday at 5 p.m. ET, and the Dodgers know that falling 2-0 down to a team as strong as the Brewers could cause serious problems.
Highlights from the opener
Skubal struck out six through the first three innings. Misiorowski reached 102 mph on the radar gun. Brice Turang tied the game, and Milwaukee then moved back in front with Lara’s fifth-inning hit. Uribe’s strikeout kept the lead intact in the late innings, and the bullpen closed out the win.