The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Sunday night in the opener of an NLCS 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 in the fifth inning. Mitchell had drawn a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cooper Pratt. The Brewers manufactured the run and held the lead, a formula that defined their path to the NLCS and showed that this is a different Milwaukee team from the one the Dodgers swept last year.
Star of the game: the Milwaukee bullpen
The Brewers’ relievers carried the final innings. DL Hall, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill combined for 4⅔ scoreless innings and escaped several tough spots. Ashby was especially effective, covering two innings and inducing a pair of eighth-inning infield popups from Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani.
The stat that defined the game: three double plays
Jacob Misiorowski struggled early, but Milwaukee’s defense bailed him out. Back-to-back 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 snuff out a potential rally.
What it means for the Dodgers
Since their championship run began in 2024, this is only the second time the Dodgers have lost the opening game of a playoff series. The first came in last year’s World Series, when they bounced back to beat the Blue Jays in Game 2 with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. Yamamoto starts Game 2 on Monday at 5 p.m. ET, and a 2-0 series deficit against a team this good could create real trouble for Los Angeles.