The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Sunday night in Game 1 of the NLCS, a rematch a year in the making. Milwaukee won a series opener that the Dodgers had hoped to take, and this time the Brewers came out on top after being swept by Los Angeles in the previous year’s matchup.
The moment that decided it
Rookie Luis Lara delivered the decisive blow in the fifth inning. He 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 sacrifice bunt by Cooper Pratt. Milwaukee manufactured the run and then held the lead for the rest of the game, a formula that showed how the Brewers reached this series.
Milwaukee’s bullpen was the star
The Brewers’ relief corps carried the game after the starters left. DL Hall, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill combined for 4⅔ scoreless innings and escaped several difficult jams. Ashby was especially effective, covering two innings and inducing a pair of infield popups in the eighth inning, from Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani.
Defense bailed out Misiorowski
Jacob Misiorowski struggled early, but Milwaukee’s infield kept the Dodgers from building momentum. Two 6-4-3 double plays ended the first and second innings. After Misiorowski exited in the fifth, Hall induced another inning-ending double play to stop a potential rally. Three double plays in total helped the Brewers protect their lead.
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 in last year’s World Series, when 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 Los Angeles now faces a 2-0 deficit in the series against a team that has shown it can win in a variety of ways.
Other highlights from the opener
Skubal recorded six strikeouts through the first three innings. Brice Turang tied the game for Milwaukee, and Misiorowski threw a 102 mph pitch. Uribe also struck out a batter with runners stranded to keep the Brewers in front.