Brewers Beat Dodgers 2-1 in NLCS Game 1 as Turang Homers, Bullpen Holds

By
Harris
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36

Key Points

  • Milwaukee beat Los Angeles 2-1 on Sunday night to take a 1-0 lead in the NL Championship Series.
  • Brice Turang tied the game with a fourth-inning homer off Tarik Skubal, and rookie Luis Lara singled in the go-ahead run in the fifth.
  • Four Brewers relievers held the Dodgers to two hits after Jacob Misiorowski left in the fifth inning.
  • The win snapped Milwaukee’s seven-game postseason losing streak against the Dodgers. Game 2 is Monday in Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Brewers opened the National League Championship Series with a tense 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night at American Family Field, leaning on one swing from Brice Turang and another lockdown performance from their bullpen.

It was the first NLCS meeting of two 100-win teams since the Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies in 1976, according to The Associated Press.

What happened

Los Angeles struck first in the second inning. Shohei Ohtani scored on an Andy Pages single, and the Dodgers made Misiorowski throw 35 pitches in the inning before Kike Hernandez grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.

Turang answered with a leadoff home run into the Brewers bullpen in left-center in the fourth, going the other way against Skubal to tie it 1-1. In the fifth, Garrett Mitchell drew a leadoff walk, Cooper Pratt bunted him to second and Lara grounded a single into center field for the lead Milwaukee never gave back.

Misiorowski was chased in the fifth. DL Hall came in and got Freddie Freeman to ground into a double play, Abner Uribe stranded runners at the corners in the sixth, Aaron Ashby covered two innings and Trevor Megill got the final three outs for the save. Mookie Betts flied out to the warning track in center with two runners on to end it. The crowd was 42,617.

Latest development

The Dodgers went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position, grounded into three double plays and left nine men on base. AP reported that Los Angeles is now 2 for 22 with runners in scoring position this postseason, while Milwaukee’s bullpen has allowed one earned run in 23 2/3 playoff innings.

“It’s going to be a long series. We knew it coming in,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game, according to AP.

Why it matters

Game 1 changes the tone of a rematch. The Dodgers swept Milwaukee in last year’s NLCS, and the Brewers had lost seven straight postseason games to Los Angeles before Sunday. Milwaukee, which finished with the best record in the majors, is one of five current franchises that have never won a World Series.

Los Angeles is chasing a third straight championship, something no team has done since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees. A loss in the opener at Milwaukee puts more pressure on the Dodgers’ rotation in Game 2.

What happens next

Game 2 is Monday in Milwaukee. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 postseason appearances, starts for the Dodgers. Logan Henderson makes his second career postseason start for the Brewers after going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA in two starts against Los Angeles this season.

Related live coverage

The American League side of the bracket is also moving. Read how Tampa Bay swept the Yankees in the ALDS, and find news channels and streams on our Watch Live hub.

Sources