Brewers Sweep Dodgers 6-4, Reach First World Series Since 1982

By
Harris
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28

Key Points

  • The Brewers beat the Dodgers 6-4 at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night, sweeping the NLCS 4-0 and clinching their first World Series trip since 1982.
  • Milwaukee trailed 4-0 after Shohei Ohtani’s three-run homer in the second, tied it in the fifth and went ahead on Garrett Mitchell’s solo shot in the sixth.
  • Jake Bauers drove in three runs and was named NLCS MVP; David Hamilton homered in the ninth for the final margin.
  • World Series Game 1 is Friday, Oct. 23, in Milwaukee against the AL champion, with Cleveland leading Tampa Bay 2-1 in the ALCS.

The Milwaukee Brewers are going to the World Series for the first time since 1982. They erased a four-run deficit to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, completing a four-game sweep of the two-time defending World Series champions.

First pitch was at 8:08 p.m. ET, and the final out came shortly after 11 p.m. ET in front of 49,104 fans. The official box score lists the game at 2 hours, 59 minutes. MLB.com’s game story described it as the end of a 44-year wait for the franchise.

What happened

Los Angeles struck first and hard. Milwaukee opened with Shane Drohan, who worked a scoreless first inning before Kyle Tucker led off the second with a single and Dustin May took over. Andy Pages singled Tucker home for a 1-0 lead, and two batters later Shohei Ohtani drove a three-run homer to right-center field. That made it 4-0 Dodgers before the Brewers had a hit.

Milwaukee answered against Tyler Glasnow in the fourth. Brice Turang walked, William Contreras doubled, and Jake Bauers lined a two-run ground-rule double to right field to cut the gap to 4-2.

The tying rally came in the fifth. Sal Frelick walked and scored on David Hamilton’s single to center, which ended Glasnow’s night after 4 1/3 innings. Evan Phillips intentionally walked Turang and then walked Contreras to load the bases. Alex Vesia came in to face Bauers, who drew a walk that forced home Hamilton and tied the game 4-4. Vesia was charged with a blown save.

Garrett Mitchell broke the tie leading off the sixth, hitting a full-count solo homer to center field off Tanner Scott for a 5-4 lead. Hamilton added a two-out solo homer to right-center off Edwin Díaz in the ninth.

The Milwaukee bullpen did the rest. After May allowed three earned runs over three innings, JoJo Romero threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts and earned the win. Aaron Ashby covered the final three innings without allowing a run, striking out three and retiring the Dodgers in order in the ninth for his second save of the postseason. Scott took the loss.

Latest development

Bauers was named NLCS Most Valuable Player after the clincher. MLB.com reported that he led the team with six RBIs in the series and that no Brewers player had won an LCS MVP award before. His three RBIs on Thursday came on the fourth-inning double and the bases-loaded walk in the fifth.

Milwaukee won the series by scores of 2-1, 7-4, 6-2 and 6-4. The Brewers, who were near the bottom of the majors in home runs during the regular season, out-homered the Dodgers 7-1 in the NLCS, according to MLB.com. Bauers and Mitchell went back-to-back in the Game 3 win at Dodger Stadium, and the series opened with a tight 2-1 victory in Milwaukee.

Christian Yelich, the team’s longest-tenured hitter, had been in the same visiting clubhouse a year earlier after the Dodgers swept Milwaukee in the 2025 NLCS. “You have to have that faith, and you have to have, like, the belief that you know this group can get it done,” Yelich said, as quoted by MLB.com.

Why it matters

The pennant ends one of the longest World Series droughts in baseball. Milwaukee’s only previous trip came in 1982, when the Brewers were an American League club and lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

It also ends a long run of October frustration against Los Angeles. The Dodgers knocked Milwaukee out of the postseason in 2018, 2020 and 2025. MLB.com noted the Brewers are the first team in 103 years to be swept by an opponent in the postseason and then beat that same opponent the following postseason. For the Dodgers, the loss ends a bid for a third straight championship.

The run caps a dominant year for one of baseball’s smallest markets. Milwaukee won a franchise-record and MLB-leading 103 regular-season games, then beat the Padres in the NLDS before sweeping Los Angeles. MLB.com counted 110 wins in the Brewers’ 170 meaningful games this season.

What happens next

World Series Game 1 is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23, at American Family Field in Milwaukee, with Game 2 there on Saturday, Oct. 24. Both games air on FOX. MLB’s schedule lists first-pitch times as TBD, so no start time has been announced yet. Games 3 through 5 move to the AL champion’s ballpark from Oct. 26 to 28, with Game 5 only if necessary, and Games 6 and 7, if needed, would return to Milwaukee on Oct. 30 and 31.

The Brewers’ opponent is not yet known. The Cleveland Guardians lead the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 in the American League Championship Series after a 3-2 home win on Thursday. Game 4 is Friday at 8 p.m. ET in Cleveland on TBS, and Game 5 is Saturday night in Cleveland. Catch up on how the Rays evened that series in Game 2 before Cleveland went back in front.

Milwaukee now gets a week off while the AL bracket plays out. After 44 years, a sweep of the champions and a comeback from four runs down in the clincher, the next pitch the Brewers throw will come in the World Series.

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