After beating the Phillies, the Dodgers moved on to face the best team in baseball. The Milwaukee Brewers, fresh off a five-game victory over the Cubs, carried their regular-season momentum into the NLCS with a 6-0 win in Game 1. But this time, the outcome was flipped — and emphatically so.
While many expected a six- or seven-game series, the Dodgers’ pitching staff had other plans. Across the series, Dodgers starters allowed just two runs, and the team as a whole surrendered only four. Milwaukee’s offense was shut down completely, allowing Los Angeles to advance to the World Series and chase a historic repeat — something no MLB team has done in 25 years.
Game 1: Almost Perfect
The Dodgers opened the series with offseason signing Blake Snell, and it couldn’t have gone much better. The Brewers countered with opener Aaron Ashby, followed by Quinn Priester for bulk innings.
The first few innings were quiet, until the third, when Caleb Durbin led off with a single — the only hit Snell allowed. Durbin was picked off almost immediately, and from that point on, Snell faced the minimum through eight innings.
The game’s strangest moment came in the fourth inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Max Muncy crushed a ball to deep center. Sal Frelick nearly caught it at the wall, but it bounced off before he corralled it and fired it back to the infield. Teoscar Hernández was thrown out at home on a force play. Then, William Contreras tagged third base to get Will Smith, who hadn’t advanced, thinking the ball was caught. A bizarre double play erased what looked like a 4-0 lead and ended the inning.
Freddie Freeman finally broke the scoreless tie in the sixth with a solo homer. Snell stayed dominant, striking out 10, walking none, and allowing just that one single. He became the only pitcher in postseason history to go 8+ innings, 10+ strikeouts, no walks, and no more than one hit.
In the ninth, Mookie Betts added a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0. Manager Dave Roberts turned to Roki Sasaki to close it out, but Sasaki gave up a sac fly before being pulled for Blake Treinen. With the bases loaded and two outs, Treinen escaped with a strikeout to seal a tense 2-1 win.
Game 2: “Losing Is Not an Option”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound for Game 2, facing Brewers ace Freddy Peralta. Before the game, Yamamoto boldly declared, “Losing is not an option.” He backed it up in dominant fashion.
Jackson Chourio homered on Yamamoto’s first pitch, but that would be the Brewers’ only run. The Dodgers responded quickly: a Teoscar Hernández solo homer tied it in the second, followed by a KikĂ© Hernández RBI double that made it 2-1.
In the sixth, Muncy got revenge for his strange Game 1 play with a solo homer. Ohtani added an RBI in the seventh, and Tommy Edman drove in another in the eighth, pushing the score to 5-1.
Yamamoto threw a complete game, allowing just three hits, one walk, and striking out seven. The Dodgers returned to L.A. with a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Game 3: Missed Chances, Clutch Escapes
Back in Los Angeles, Tyler Glasnow started against Aaron Ashby. Ohtani, still slumping in the playoffs, led off with a triple, and Betts immediately doubled him home for a 1-0 lead.
The Brewers answered with a triple by Durbin and an RBI single from Jake Bauers. Bauers advanced to third after a pickoff error, but Max Muncy made a heads-up play on a grounder and threw him out at home to keep the game tied.
Jacob Misiorowski replaced Ashby in the first and dominated until the sixth. After a Will Smith single and Freeman walk, Tommy Edman singled to drive in a run. A botched pickoff allowed another run to score, making it 3-1.
Glasnow finished 5.2 innings with eight strikeouts. The bullpen — Alex Vesia, Treinen, Anthony Banda, and Sasaki — closed it out. Sasaki earned his third save, and the Dodgers took a 3-0 series lead.
Game 4: The Ohtani Game
With elimination looming, the Brewers sent José Quintana to the mound. The Dodgers gave the ball to none other than Shohei Ohtani.
This game showed exactly why the Dodgers paid Ohtani $700 million.
He started the game by walking Brice Turang, then struck out the next three batters. In the bottom of the first, he launched a home run. The Dodgers scored two more in the inning to take a 3-0 lead.
Ohtani dominated on the mound and came back up in the fourth to hit a 469-foot bomb over the pavilion — completely out of Dodger Stadium. He pitched into the seventh before being pulled after a walk and a single.
But he wasn’t done.
In the seventh inning, he crushed his third home run of the night, putting the game out of reach at 5-0. The Brewers scratched across a run in the eighth, but Sasaki closed it out with a flyout to right.
Ohtani, in his playoff home debut, delivered a three-homer, shut-down pitching performance and was named NLCS MVP. The Dodgers punched their ticket to the World Series.
World Series Preview: Dodgers vs. Blue Jays
The Blue Jays defeated the Mariners in a thrilling Game 7 after a George Springer go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh. Game 1 will be Friday in Toronto.
The Jays’ offense has been electric. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hitting .442 with six postseason homers. Ernie Clement (.429) and Nathan Lukes (.333) have stepped up as well. While Springer’s numbers don’t jump off the page, he’s proven he’s still clutch — just ask Seattle.
Bo Bichette is also returning, giving Toronto another dangerous bat.
The Dodgers, by contrast, have been powered by elite pitching. Their starters posted a 0.63 ERA in the NLCS — the lowest in Championship Series history. Overall, Dodgers pitchers have held opponents to a 1.40 ERA and a .132 batting average in the playoffs.
Their offense, however, hasn’t fully clicked. Kiké Hernández is their top hitter (.306), and Ohtani just broke out of his slump in a massive way.
This World Series is a clash of strengths: Toronto’s red-hot lineup vs. L.A.’s dominant rotation. If the Dodgers can continue to stifle hitters, it won’t be easy — but they could make history as MLB’s first repeat champs in 25 years.