Category: MLB

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers knew the magnitude of this one.

It was just Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday night at American Family Field, but they had their ace, Jacob Misiorowski on the mound. They had a fresh bullpen. They had momentum.

They also had the bitter memory of a year ago that needed to be erased.

You see, the Brewers were in this same position a year ago, facing the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, with home field advantage.

The Dodgers embarrassed them.

It was humiliating, really.

MLB PAYROLLS 2026 Dodgers spend more than other three LCS teams combined

The Brewers not only were swept, but they didn’t lead a single inning, and set a dubious postseason record hitting just .118.

So now, after winning Game 1, 2-1, with their vaunted bullpen picking up Misiorowski and shutting down the Dodgers’ powerful offense, just what did this game mean to their psyche?

“Well," said Brewers closer Trevor Megill, “we ain’t getting swept now. We can relax a little bit."

Don’t let the Brewers fool you. They know how important this game meant for their chances to go where no Brewer team has gone since 1982 with a World Series berth.

“I think that was huge," Brewers left-handed reliever DL Hall said. “Momentum plays a big part in the postseason."

The series wouldn’t have been over with a loss, but with World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamto taking the mound Monday in Game 2 for the Dodgers, the Brewers simply couldn’t afford to head to Los Angeles down 2-0 and still be confident of a return trip to Milwaukee for a potential Game 6.

Now, for the first time since 2021, the Dodgers are trailing in the NLCS, while the Brewers are not only surviving, but embracing their heart-stopping close games.

“You can't go into a long series against a team that has the best record in baseball," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “and expect to just win four. It's going to be a long series. We knew it coming in. We had our chances, but they made plays, pitches when they needed to. We've just got to reset."

The Brewers certainly are developing a knack for these tense moments. They are only the third team in postseason history not to lead or trail by more than two runs in a game, joining the 1915 Red Sox and Phillies. And they are only the fourth club in the last 110 teams to have each of their first five games decided by two or fewer runs.

“Hey," said Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell, “it’s Brewer baseball. We never give up, man."

It’s not as if the Brewers smacked around two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal for five innings or the Dodgers bullpen, producing just six hits the entire game. Their own ace, Misiorowski, lasted just 4 ½ innings. But, oh, that bullpen. It no longer is the best-kept secret in the game.

The Brewers’ bullpen, which gave up just two hits in 4 ⅔ shutout innings, has yielded a 0.38 ERA this postseason. They have pitched 23 ⅔ innings in the first five games have a .163 batting average batting average against, with only three extra-base hits, and nine strikeouts.

“Everyone down there throws a sinker," said Aaron Ashby, who pitched two scoreless innings. “Getting the ball on the ground certainly helps limiting damage. And everyone’s got a swing-and-miss pitch to offer. So, it helps when you have swing-and-miss stuff in the postseason….

“I just think we have a great combination and variety."

The last time a bullpen had this low of an ERA in the first games of a postseason since the divisional era in 1969 was the 2006 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.

“I don't know how you could get more out of them," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We're squeezing everything we can, and they just get better and more confident. They're making pitches and pick each other up.

“They don't care. They just want to get outs for the Milwaukee Brewers, and that's the beauty of it. Everything else that will come their way will be a result of just caring so much about the team and not just about themselves.’’

The same attitude is reflected by its offense. They bunted. They hit-and-ran. They moved runners over. They tried to steal. They even got a homer from second baseman Brice Turang.

It was Brewer baseball.

You get a feeling this could be their year when Turang, who hit just .067 (1-for-15) against the Dodgers in last year’s NLCS, hit a 96-mph fastball on the black on the inside part of the plate for a home run to lead off the fourth inning.

“I’m going to tip my hat on a pitch like that," Skubal said. “A 2-0 sinker in, I mean, I’m going to live with that left on left."

Turang, who was working on his swing late into the evening Friday, said it brought back memories growing up and spending the night in the batting cage.

“I just didn’t want to foul off my knee again," Turang said. “That’s one way to help you stay inside of a ball is hit a ball off your leg or your foot . ... It definitely felt good. It was one of those things where you just are trying to do something, and you end up doing something like that."

It was no different for Brewers 21-year-old rookie Luis Lara, with only 61 games of big-league experience, who stepped up to the plate in the fifth inning. Mitchell led off the inning with a walk. Fellow rookie Cooper Pratt moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt. And Lara slapped a single up the middle on a changeup for a 2-1 lead that the Brewers’ bullpen refused to relinquish.

“The dream for me is to win the World Series," he said. “That will be the dream moment is when we’re able to complete that. Obviously, very happy that I was able to come through for my teammates and that we were able to get the win."

It’s the little things that enabled them to win a major-league leading 103 games this season, despite having the second-lowest home run total in baseball.

How do they pull it off?

“I think the buy-in factor," Turang says, “with everyone buying into what we're trying to accomplish and kind of our style of play. Guys are getting more experience, they're learning the game. That's a big factor in this. Then not giving up when we are behind in the game and knowing that we can do it, we can make up runs.

"This group is really, really good with that.’’

They proved that during the season, and now, they’re doing it in the postseason, this time for all of the world to see.

“Just Brewers baseball,’’ Megill said. “You gotta love it.’’

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Brewers squeezed Dodgers to win torturous NLCS opener: 'Gotta love it'

The Dodgers have a big hole in the middle of their batting order, and it’s not Shohei Ohtani.

If anything, Ohtani has reemerged as an offensive force in the cleanup spot, singling, walking and scoring the Dodgers’ only run Sunday in a 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

The problem is with the guy hitting in front of Ohtani.

Will Smith walked in four plate appearances, marking just the second time he’s reached base in the postseason. In the four division series games against the Atlanta Braves, he had a single in 16 at-bats, striking out seven times. He’s hitting .053 in the playoffs — only Cleveland’s Ángel Martínez has a lower average among players with at least nine at-bats.

But there’s not much the Dodgers can do about it. They are built to win with pitching and Smith, the catcher, is the guy they rely on to guide those pitchers through games.

Read more:Plaschke: Dodgers could be in big trouble if Brewers steal their October swagger

Dalton Rushing, who started just three fewer games behind the plate than Smith this season, is injured and not on the roster. Hunter Feduccia, who did make the team, caught just 15 complete games this season and isn’t an option to start in the playoffs.

“I’m not going to put Feduccia in place of Will Smith,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s just not going to happen.”

So Roberts and the Dodgers are left to muddle on with Smith regardless of how much he struggles offensively. That’s because he’s far more valuable crouching behind the plate than standing next to it.

“I don’t even know how he’s performing offensively,” said Tarik Skubal, who took the loss Sunday. “Catchers, I think it’s the most important position on the field. They’re the ones calling pitches, dictating game flow, rhythm, all that type of stuff. I’m going to trust those guys always.”

Smith appears to be executing his catching duties very well, since opponents have scored just 10 runs and are hitting .160 against the Dodgers this postseason. Only Tampa Bay, which has played two fewer games, has done better.

As for what Smith thinks, that’s unknown because the Dodgers did not make him available to the media Sunday. But since he’s not coming out of the lineup, the next-best solution might be moving him to another spot in the order.

That worked with Ohtani, who had as many strikeouts as hits in the first two games of the division series, when he batted second. Since being dropped in the order, he has reached base four times in three games, stolen a base and scored twice.

“There’s always lineup construction. I can think it through. He’s not swinging the bat well,” Roberts said of Smith. “It’s hard because of the body of work, he just has that knack to get a hit, to get a big hit.”

That’s exactly what happened last fall when Smith’s two-out, 11th-inning home run in Game 7 of the World Series helped the Dodgers win a second straight title.

Smith was on the injured list for 86 days this summer because of neck disk inflammation, returning for the final month when he slashed .290/.400/.548. He has cooled off considerably in October, just as he did last year, when he returned from a right hand contusion three games into the playoffs and got just two hits in his first 14 at-bats.

Read more:Brewers get just enough off Tarik Skubal, draw first blood in NLCS Game 1 win

He recovered to bat .400 in last year’s NLCS win over Milwaukee, then broke a 4-4 tie with his winning homer against the Toronto Blue Jays. Just as important, though, Smith caught all but 11 innings in the Dodgers’ final 15 postseason games — including two 11-inning games and another that lasted 18 innings.

Smith rarely has hit well in the postseason, batting just .206 in 18 series, which may explain Roberts’ lack of panic. Plus, Roberts knows his All-Star catcher has helped him win three World Series rings, and if the Dodgers are to get another, it will be on the strength of their pitching, not their hitting.

And that side of Smith’s game is as strong as ever.

“To be honest, that’s not where my focus is with Will,” Skubal said of his catcher’s hitting. “My focus is what he’s doing behind the dish and he’s very important. He’s very important to the entire pitching staff.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

MILWAUKEE — This isn't why the Los Angeles Dodgers got Tarik Skubal.

The Dodgers outbid everyone else interested, including the Milwaukee Brewers, because they thought the two-time Cy Young Award winner would deliver them a third consecutive World Series title. They gave up three highly touted prospects to get Skubal because, when you're the Dodgers, the future doesn't matter nearly as much as the present.

What Los Angeles didn't do was get Skubal to lose Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, giving those Brewers their first postseason win over the Dodgers since 2018. It was only Skubal's second loss in the postseason, and first since the 2024 ALDS.

"I didn't do my job," Skubal said after taking the loss in Milwaukee's 2-1 win over the Dodgers on Sunday, Oct. 11. "Anytime we lose and it's 2-1, I didn't do my job."

Harsh as it might be to say, Skubal is right. Though the Dodgers have rallied after losing a Game 1 before — they lost the first game of the World Series last year and look how that turned out — there's a reason he was on the mound to start this series.

Skubal was 3-1 with a 1.97 ERA in his previous seven postseason starts, including a win in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves. He'd never gone fewer than six innings in a playoff game or thrown fewer than 84 pitches. Since joining the Dodgers on Aug. 2, Skubal was 5-2, and Los Angeles had won his last seven starts.

If Los Angeles wanted to send the Brewers a message that their 103-win regular season was nice and all but they shouldn't expect this postseason matchup to be different than their others, Skubal was the guy to do it.

Except he wasn't.

Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee's young ace, didn't have his best stuff, giving up an RBI single to Andy Pages in the second inning after issuing a leadoff walk to Shohei Ohtani. But Misiorowski and the Brewers bullpen managed to limit the damage from there, allowing the Dodgers only three runners in scoring position over the last six innings.

The Brewers, meanwhile, got sharper against Skubal the more they saw him.

In Skubal's first run through the Milwaukee lineup, he had six strikeouts while allowing just one hit. In his final two innings, he gave up two runs on four hits while walking two and striking out one.

"I thought my stuff was just as good as it was early and late," Skubal said. "They just put the ball in play later in the game."

The Brewers tied the game in the fourth, when Brice Turang led off with a homer on a 2-0 pitch. In the fifth inning, Skubal gave up a leadoff walk to Garrett Mitchell, who took second on Cooper Pratt's sacrifice bunt and scored on Luis Lara's single to center.

After Joey Ortiz grounded out, the Brewers loaded the bases on a single by Jackson Churio and a walk by Turang. William Contreras flew out to right to end the inning, but the damage had been done. Alex Vesia relieved Skubal in the sixth inning.

"A leadoff walk just can't happen," said Skubal, who threw 81 pitches in five innings. "Leadoff walk in that inning and then you give them the ability to bunt the ball over. Then all they need is a base hit and they got it. I think I did a good job of limiting damage that inning, but the leadoff walk just can't happen. It gives them an opportunity to create something, and ultimately that's all they needed today."

Scattering two runs on five hits would be good enough in most games. But not against a team as opportunistic as the Brewers.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Game 2 for the Dodgers, and he's about as good of a second option as there is. He's 8-1 in the postseason overall and has won his last five starts, including a 5-1 win over the Brewers in Game 2 of last year's NLCS.

But Yamamoto was supposed to be locking the door on Milwaukee after Skubal had closed it, not making sure the Dodgers don't head back to Los Angeles in an 0-2 hole.

"We feel good with our guy," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "You can't go into a long series against a team that has the best record in baseball and expect to just win four. It's going to be a long series. We knew it coming in. We had our chances, but they made plays, pitches when they needed to. We've just got to reset.

"We've got our guy going tomorrow, who we trust undoubtedly, and we've got to win a baseball game."

That's what the Dodgers thought about Skubal, too. Look what it got them.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers got Tarik Skubal for this moment. But Cy Young ace 'didn't do my job' | Opinion

Unsurprisingly, in a battle of two aces, Jacob Misiorowski and Tarik Skubal, the expected NL Cy Young winner and the two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner, runs were hard to come by in this pitchers’ duel. But ultimately, in Game 1 of the NLCS, the Brewers came out on top 2-1.

The Dodgers struck first against Misiorowski. Shohei Ohtani drew a leadoff walk, then Teoscar Hernandez singled. With one out, Andy Pages slapped a ground ball single through the right side to bring home Ohtani and give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

Misiorowski did not have his best stuff in this game. He hit 104 MPH once, but the vertical break on his fastball was down a couple inches and the command wasn’t there as he walked three on the night. Still, he battled and was able to induce a 6-4-3 double play to end that 2nd inning.

Then, drama.

In the 4th inning, Teoscar Hernandez danced a little too far off of first base, Misiorowski stepped off, spun around, and calmly threw to first to get Hernandez out, seemingly ending the inning. However, home plate umpire Edwin Moscoso called a balk on Misiorowski. Pat Murphy was emphatically upset at the call.

Misiorowski ended up striking out Kyle Tucker to end the inning, so no harm was truly done. Miz was emotional coming off the mound, and the Brewers appeared to have a fire lit under them after that. Immediately after, to leadoff the bottom of the 4th, Brice Turang slugged his first home run of the postseason.

OCTOBER BRICE BOMB ‼️ https://t.co/hTHNHzKUsVpic.twitter.com/sURnGSilex

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 12, 2026

That tied the game at 1-1 and cemented momentum in the Brewers favor.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to foul a ball off my knee again, so I was like I’m going to stay inside of this one. Not try to do too much, just drive back up the middle and get inside of it. Yeah, I just got it. Just trying to stay inside of it, drive it up the middle, and sometimes less is more.” Turang said.

The Brewers would keep it going in the 5th after Garrett Mitchell led off the inning with a walk, then was moved over on a sacrifice bunt from Cooper Pratt. That perfectly set up Luis Lara to give the Brewers the lead.

THE ROOKIE WITH A HUGE OCTOBER RIBBIE pic.twitter.com/KrjIXDgpyh

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 12, 2026

At just 21 years old and the youngest player on the team, Lara came through when his team needed him the most.

“(Lara) is very committed to team. He’s very committed to not letting his teammates down, and I think that’s what makes the guy special at this point. Both him and Pratt are up here not knowing they were going to be in the Big Leagues, and they are both very conscientious about getting it done the right way. They’re more concerned about not letting their teammates down than not letting a national audience down.” Murphy said.

“Really I was just looking to push the runner across. That was the only thing that was going through my mind. That’s what I’m focused on in that moment is just finding a way to connect, put the ball in play, and find a way for the run to score. Thanks to God I was able to do that.” Lara said.

The Brewers had an opportunity to bring in some insurance runs in that inning. Jackson Chourio followed with a single, then Brice Turang drew a walk, loading the bases with two outs for William Contreras. However, Contreras flew out to deep right to end the threat.

The Brewers had a few more chances to add on, but were unable to capitalize. Jake Bauers was picked off first by Alex Vesia in the 6th on what clearly should’ve been called a balk. Vesia’s stride was towards home and far beyond the 45 degree angle that’s allowed. Yet it was not called.

Then in the 8th, Chourio led things off with a single. The Dodgers then brought in $72MM reliever Tanner Scott and refused to allow him to face a single right-handed batter. They intentionally walked William Contreras to face Jake Bauers, and then intentionally walked Andrew Vaughn to face Garrett Mitchell. Mitchell grounded out to end the inning and leave it a 2-1 Brewers lead heading into the 9th.

Trevor Megill was called upon to lock things down once again, and he was able to deliver, albeit with a little bit of stress. After inducing an infield fly and a flyout, Megill walked the 8th and 9th hitters for the Dodgers to turn the lineup over to Mookie Betts. Betts flew out to deep center to end the game and Garrett Mitchell caught it and celebrated with an emphatic fist pump.

The Brewers will not be swept out of the NLCS this year. They have taken the 1-0 series lead and are now three wins away from reaching the World Series.

For the Brewers to accomplish their goal, they’ll need to win the games started by Misiorowski. They were able to accomplish that and have now set themselves up with a chance to take a 2-0 series lead with Game 2 on Monday afternoon. It’ll be Logan Henderson on the mound for the Crew while Brewers killer Yoshinobu Yamamoto is on the mound for the Dodgers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will look to rebound from the 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Oct. 11.

Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal spent more time on the mound in the battle with Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, but it was the runs that Skubal allowed that made the difference in the game. 

Skubal struck out seven and allowed five hits, but it was two earned runs against him that made the difference. Misiorowski pitched 4⅓ innings, allowed five hits and one earned run while striking out five.

The Brewers managed to overcome the early run scored by the Dodgers in the top of the second inning. Brice Turang hit a solo home run 384 feet into left center field in the fourth inning. Luis Lara followed it up with a single to center field in the bottom of the fifth that brought in Garrett Mitchell.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be the Game 2 starter for the Dodgers. Logan Henderson will be on the mound for the Brewers. Here’s when they will play:

When is Dodgers vs Brewers Game 2? How to watch

• Time: 5 p.m. ET
• TV channel: Fox
• Live stream: Fubo and Fox One

Watch the MLB playoffs on Fubo

NLCS schedule for Dodgers vs Brewers

Sunday, Oct. 11

NLCS Game 1: Brewers 2, Dodgers 1

Monday, Oct. 12

NLCS Game 2: Dodgers at Brewers, 5 p.m. ET, Fox, FS1, Fox One & Fox Deportes

Wednesday, Oct. 14

NLCS Game 3: Brewers at Dodgers, 8 p.m. ET, FS1, Fox One & Fox Deportes

Thursday, Oct. 15

NLCS Game 4: Brewers at Dodgers, 9 p.m. ET, FS1, Fox One & Fox Deportes

Friday, Oct. 16

NLCS Game 5*: Brewers at Dodgers, 9 p.m. ET, FS1, Fox One & Fox Deportes

Sunday, Oct. 18

NLCS Game 6*: Dodgers at Brewers, 8 p.m. ET, FS1, Fox One & Fox Deportes

Monday, Oct. 19

NLCS Game 7*: Dodgers at Brewers, 8 p.m. ET, Fox, FS1, Fox One & Fox Deportes

(*if necessary)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brewers vs. Dodgers: When is NLCS Game 2?

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First and foremost, the Dodgers wanted Tarik Skubal on their team. When they pursued him at the trade deadline, they saw him as the rare player who could improve their odds of winning a third straight World Series.

It didn’t hurt that by acquiring him they prevented other postseason contenders, including the Milwaukee Brewers, from landing the two-time Cy Young Award winner. The Dodgers guaranteed that they wouldn’t have to face him in October.

“I’m sure it’s in the back of your head, the teams that are interested,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Sunday before the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the Brewers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. “Certainly not a driver, but not nothing either. As far as how happy I am, I am very happy it’s Skubal versus Miz and not Miz and Skubal [for the Brewers] in the next two.”

Read more:Plaschke: Dodgers could be in big trouble if Brewers steal their October swagger

That sentiment rang even truer when the Dodgers dropped Game 1 at American Family Field, despite forcing “Miz” — Jacob Misiorowski, the NL Cy Young favorite — out of the game in just 4⅓ innings, and despite having Skubal, who struck out seven in five innings but gave up two runs in a fine effort, on their side.

“That’s our job, trying to get the starter, especially when you’re facing a guy like him, out of the game early,” said left fielder Teoscar Hernández, who logged two hits against Misiorowski. “I think we did a pretty good job, we just didn’t get the job done when we needed with guys in scoring position.”

The Dodgers hit into three inning-ending double plays in the first five innings and overall left nine men on base, going one for six with runners in scoring position.

In a role reversal, the Dodgers, who scored almost exclusively via the home run in the first round, pulled ahead with a pesky approach at the plate.

Designated hitter Shohei Ohtani opened the second inning with a four-pitch walk. Then Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages hit opposite-field singles to move Ohtani around the bases and give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

Taking a similar “grind him out” approach to the one they deployed against Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale in Game 3 of the Division Series, the Dodgers forced Misiorowski to throw 35 pitches in the inning — 10 alone to Kyle Tucker, who worked a walk.

By the third inning, Misiorowski’s fastball velocity, which touched 104 mph, had dropped to double digits. And though the Dodgers didn’t score again against him, they continued to rack up his pitch count. By the time he exited with one out in the fifth, it was at 94.

The Brewers, known for their peskiness, instead tied the score with one swing against Skubal. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Brice Turang got the barrel of his bat to an inside sinker and lifted it over the fence in left-center, into the Brewers’ bullpen.

“A 2-0 sinker in, I mean, I’m going to live with that, left-on-left,” Skubal said. “He put a good swing on it. The first at-bat he broke his bat [on a similar pitch], ground ball.”

Though the Brewers have players who can hit home runs, they pulled ahead the next inning with a sequence more closely aligned with their identity.

Skubal walked Garrett Mitchell on five pitches. Brewers rookie Cooper Pratt moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. And then Luis Lara sent a ground-ball single through the middle of the infield to drive in the go-ahead run.

“The leadoff walk just can’t happen,” Skubal said. “It gives them an opportunity to create something, and ultimately that’s all they needed today.”

Skubal battled traffic to get out of the inning without giving up another run. But in such a tight game, that marked the end of his start.

The American Family Field atmosphere added an extra charge to the close contest. The home crowd was perhaps its loudest (until an ear-splitting cheer at the final out) when it took issue with a balk call against Misiorowski. It looked as if he had picked off Hernández to end the fourth inning, but Hernández instead was awarded second base.

That play still was seared into their collective memory when Dodgers left-hander Alex Vesia picked off Jake Bauers at first base. Brewers fans shouted “balk!” over and over.

The bullpens battled to a scoreless draw, the Dodgers’ last stand falling flat after Tucker and pinch-hitting rookie Josue De Paula drew a pair of two-out walks against Trevor Megill. Mookie Betts drove a deep fly ball to the warning track, momentarily silencing the crowd, until Mitchell closed his glove around it. So the edge the Brewers gained against Skubal held.

“You can’t go into a long series against a team that has the best record in baseball and expect to just win four,” Roberts said after the game. “It’s going to be a long series. We knew it coming in. We had our chances, but they made plays, pitches when they needed to. We’ve just got to reset. We’ve got our guy going [Monday], who we trust undoubtedly, and we’ve got to win a baseball game.”

Read more:Will Smith is in a slump, but benching him isn't an option for Dodgers

That guy is right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who last year threw a complete game at American Family Field in Game 2 of the NLCS.

The road doesn’t get much easier for the Dodgers’ offense Monday, when it’ll face right-hander Logan Henderson, who held the Dodgers to one run in seven innings when the Brewers came to Los Angeles in August. But imagine if instead the Brewers had outbid the Dodgers and they had to go through Skubal first.

“It would look really different,” manager Dave Roberts said Saturday. “What those guys do — they had the best record in baseball. Certainly when you’re talking about a seven-game series, to see Tarik on the other side … the series would look a lot different.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

A pair of long inning cut short the promised battle of aces in Game 1 of the National League Championship, but the overall adage that runs would be hard to come by still proved true. Both teams scratched across a single run in their big innings, but the Brewers added a solo home run which was the difference in a 2-1 win over the Dodgers on Sunday night at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

Tarik Skubal struck out six batters his first time through Milwaukee’s batting order, stranding Jake Bauers after a one-out double in the second inning, the only batter to reach base in the first three innings against the left-hander.

Brewers second baseman Brice Turang made his mark in the field with a tremendous stop and throw well behind the bag to get Mookie Betts in the first inning, then made a lightning-fast turn on a double play which ended a big Dodgers rally in the second.

Then Turang got Milwaukee on the board with a leadoff home run in the fourth inning, going other way to left center field off Skubal to tie the game at 1-1.

BRICE TURANG!

WE ARE TIED! pic.twitter.com/DnvfcRjLd2

— MLB (@MLB) October 12, 2026

The fifth inning was the stressful one for Skubal, with his only two walks of the game. The first one — Garrett Mitchell — was sacrificed to second base then driven home on a single by No. 9-hitter Luis Lara, giving the Brewers their first lead. A single and walk loaded the bases with two outs but William Contreras flew out to strand three.

Skubal escaped the big inning but needed 26 pitches in the fifth alone, and that was his final frame. After his first time through the order, Skubal allowed four hits and two walks to his next 12 batters, with one strikeout.

The Dodgers knew they were in for a battle against likely National League Cy Young Award-winner Jacob Misiorowski, who throws in triple digits more than anyone else and is usually a nightmare to face. They tried a deliberate approach.

“It’s more a little bit conceding the slug, hitting the ball out front, to then seeing the ball a little bit longer to spoil pitches, to shoot the ball the other way. That’s how you’ve got to beat this guy,” manager Dave Roberts told reporters in Milwaukee before Sunday’s game. “To think you’re going to catch him out front and pull it in the air is bananas.”

This was a plan similar to what the Dodgers used against Chris Sale in Game 3 of the Division Series last Tuesday, and got him out of the game after five innings, with three runs in the bank.

The Dodgers made Misiorowski work, fouling off 21 pitches and running six different three-ball counts, three of the latter in the second inning alone. The Dodgers scored a run in that inning and had the bases loaded but couldn’t get more in a 35-pitch frame by the big right-hander.

Misiorowski needed 94 pitches to get his 13 outs, none of the five innings in which he appeared a clean one, with five singles and three walks allowed. But the Dodgers were only able to plate one run against the Brewers, thanks in part to grounding into three double plays in the first five innings alone.

The Dodgers led the National League this season with 128 double plays, third-most in the majors.

In relief

Two Dodgers singled in the sixth inning against Abner Uribe but did not score, and Will Smith walked against Aaron Ashby in the eighth against the Brewers bullpen, with four pitchers combining for 13 outs to close out the game.

Closer Trevor Megill walked Kyle Tucker with two outs in the ninth to keep the game going, then 21-year-old pinch-hitter Josue De Paula did the same to keep the game going. But Mookie Betts flew out to end the game.

Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, and Tanner Scott combined for three scoreless innings of their own, with six strikeouts, with only a single and one unintentional walk allowed (plus two intentional free passes, who were stranded). Scoring against these bullpens should be difficult. Now it’s just a matter of seeing if relative early access to relievers in Game 1 bears fruit later in the NLCS.

But the Brewers got the win in front of them on Sunday, and lead the NLCS, one game to none.

NLCS Game 1 particulars

Home run: Bruce Turang (1)

WP — DL Hall (2-0): 1 batter, 2 outs

LP — Tarik Skubal (1-1): 5 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts

Sv — Trevor Megill (3): 1 IP, 2 walks

Up next

Game 2 has an earlier start time on Monday (2 p.m. PT, Fox), with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound against Brewers right-hander Logan Henderson. The NLCS will be two games into their series just before the American League Championship Series begins on Monday night.

Both Yamamoto and Henderson have allowed 18 earned runs since the All-Star break — in 84 1/3 innings over 12 starts with 86 strikeouts for Yamamoto, and in 75 innings over 13 starts with 80 strikeouts for Henderson.

MILWAUKEE — It was Milwaukee Brewer baseball on full display Sunday evening, showing the baseball world why they’ve won more games than any team in baseball the past two seasons.

They also showed the Los Angeles Dodgers that this edition of the Brewers won’t be the pushover that embarrassed themselves in the National League Championship Series a year ago.

The Brewers, playing the style of baseball that earned them 103 victories this season, stunned the Dodgers with a 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the NLCS in front of a sellout crowd of 42,617 at American Family Field.

They pitched, with ace Jacob Misiorowski permitting one run in 4 ⅓ innings while their bullpen came in and pitched 4 ⅔ shutout innings.

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The Brewers produced only six hits, but they worked their pesky magic.

They bunted.

They executed the hit-and-run.

They attempted stolen bases.

They even showed they could homer, with second baseman Brice Turang hitting his first postseason longball.

And now, for the first time in five years, the Dodgers are facing a deficit in the NLCS in their bid to become the first National League team to win three consecutive pennants since the 1942-1944 St. Louis Cardinals. And no National League has ever won three consecutive World Series titles.

“I think the organization is fantastic …,’’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gushed about the Brewers. “They play baseball. They play baseball the way it was intended. They value 90 feet. They take extra bases. They defend well. They're athletic. They prevent runs with really good pitching and then with the defense layered in. They don't give pitches away. They hit to all fields.

“And with that, they're in every game."

The Brewers became the first team to keep two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal from completing six innings in his eight career postseason games. Skubal still showed just why he was the most wanted man at the trade deadline, and why he’ll become the richest pitcher in baseball history this winter when he hits free agency, but the Brewers forced him to throw 81 pitches and beat him playing small ball in the fifth inning.

The Brewers showed off their playbook going ahead in the fifth with Garrett Mitchell drawing a leadoff walk. Rookie Cooper Pratt laid down a sacrifice bunt. And fellow rookie Luis Lara drove in Mitchell by slapping a single up the middle, giving the Brewers a 2-1 lead. They threatened to blow the game open when they loaded the bases, but Skubal escaped the jam when William Contreras flied out to right field.

It was certainly a relief for the Brewers, who badly wanted Skubal, too, at the trade deadline. The Brewers put in what they thought was an aggressive bid, but it just wasn’t as good as the Dodgers’ offer.

“I thought that if they wanted to outbid us, they could," Brewers owner Mark Attanasio told USA TODAY Sports, “”but because of the team they have and the depth of the team they have. It would be easier for them to add that extra prospect.

“The Dodgers run an exceptional organization. Yes, it's not easy to be that exceptional, and they're exceptional in everything. That's not easy. Yeah, they're getting showered with money. Well, why do you think they have all this money? Because they've been so smart in their business."

Certainly, Skubal could still change the fate of this series, with Skubal scheduled to go in Game 5, but Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations, dreaded the idea of having to face Skubal and Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski, too.

“I’m very happy it’s Skubal vs. Miz,’’ Friedman before the game, “and not Miz and Skubal in the next two.’’

Just as the San Diego Padres did in the NL Division Series, the Dodgers copied the same blueprint and also wore down Misiorowski early.

Misiorowski threw 69 pitches just to get through the first three innings – including 35 pitches in the second inning when the Dodgers scored their lone run. They could have blown it open but Enrique Hernandez grounded into a bases-loaded double play to end the inning.

While the Padres fouled off 29 of Misiorowski’s 88 pitches in their game, the Dodgers fouled off 16 of Misiorowski’s first 69 pitches and 21 in the game. Misiorowski, who allowed eight baserunners, threw 94 pitches and lasted just 4 innings.

No problem.

The Brewers turned to their vaunted bullpen, and the firm of DL Hall, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill closed it out.

“I think the success they've had over the last handful of years, the deepness of their roster,’’ Friedman said, “really stands out. It's hard over 162 to do what they've done. .. I think there's really not a glaring weakness. So 1 through 26, they can beat you in a lot of different ways. Those are the kind of things that I feel like you need in October.

“If you're just reliant on hitting a homer, tough way to live life. They just have so many different ways to do it."

The Dodgers certainly aren’t panicking, not with World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound for Game 2. They also are accustomed to comebacks, down 3 games to 2 to the Toronto Blue Jays in last year’s World Series, only to cross the border going home with a World Series trophy.

“Once you get through the marathon and you get to the sprint of the postseason,’’ Roberts said, “advantage goes to us in the sense of the experience.’’

Then again, now that the Brewers are back in the NLCS, they’re starting to get that experience, too.

“They’re playing with confidence," Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts said, “so that may have been all they needed. To get real experience, and a real taste of it, and now they know what they have to do.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Milwaukee plays Brewer Ball to land uppercut on Dodgers, grab control of NLCS

Tarik Skubal was tasked with being the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Game 1 starter for the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, Oct. 11.

Skubal’s outing was successful for the Dodgers at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner was brought to Los Angeles with the intention of having him strengthen the pitching depth and rotation for the postseason.

He was acquired by the Dodgers in a blockbuster trade with the Detroit Tigers in early August, sending outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handed pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith to Detroit.

Skubal allowed his first hit in Game 1 to right-handed hitter Andrew Vaughn in the bottom of the second inning. Vaughn was eventually left stranded at third base after Skubal struck out Cooper Pratt.

Skubal was dominant to start, striking out six batters through the first three innings. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts replaced Skubal with Alex Vesia to start the bottom of the sixth inning.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy chose to insert Vaughn into the lineup as the designated hitter instead of Christian Yelich, a left-handed batter for the Brewers. The decision was influenced by Vaughn's success against left-handed pitchers such as Skubal.

Here's how Skubal fared in NLCS Game 1 win over the Brewers:

Tarik Skubal stats vs. Brewers

• Innings pitched: 5
• Hits allowed: 5
• Runs allowed: 2
• Earned runs allowed: 2
• Walks: 2
• Strikeouts: 7
• Pitches thrown: 81
• Strikes thrown: 53

Tarik Skubal highlights

Tarik Skubal has 6 Ks through the first 3 innings! pic.twitter.com/CFmXrwG2kM

— MLB (@MLB) October 12, 2026

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How did Tarik Skubal pitch in Game 1? Dodgers vs. Brewers stats

Brice Turang hit a solo home run for the Milwaukee Brewers' first run scored against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday, Oct. 11.

Turang hit the homer off Dodgers ace Tarik Skubal in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie game at 1-1.

It was Turang's first home run of the postseason.

BRICE TURANG!

WE ARE TIED! pic.twitter.com/DnvfcRjLd2

— MLB (@MLB) October 12, 2026

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brice Turang belts home run as Brewers tie Dodgers in NLCS Game 1

Jacob Misiorowski pumped his fist in the air. After struggling to locate his stuff for most of the night, the Milwaukee Brewers ace got Shohei Ohtani to bite on back-to-back perfectly placed pitches: a 91-mph slider just below the zone that Ohtani would've needed a golf swing for, followed by a 100.8 mph fastball right on the upper inside corner of the plate for strike three to get out of the top of the third inning.

He needed that one.

The Brewers gave the ball to the 24-year-old Cy Young frontrunner in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, trusting him to set the tone for a rematch with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He did just that at first with a 12-pitch first inning, but things quickly unraveled from there.

The Miz's command slipped away from him in the second inning, with the break on his fastball down two inches and his slider down three. The Dodgers, for their part, were more than happy to watch Misiorowski miss the zone. Shohei Ohtani walked on four pitches to lead off the frame; he came around to score the first run of the game on singles from Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages. Kyle Tucker then worked a 10-pitch walk to load the bases, but the Miz was able to get out of the jam by getting Kiké Hernández to ground into a double play to retire the side after throwing 35 pitches.

In addition to issues with his command, Misiorowski struggled to put guys away with two strikes. Furthermore, the MLB's strikeout leader this season couldn't draw swings-and-misses early on with just four total whiffs through his 47 pitches in the first two innings. He started to look more like himself in his final two frames, though, getting five strikeouts but his whiff rate Sunday was still a mere 24%.

Nevertheless, Misiorowski was able to settle in, limiting the damage to just one earned run in 4.1 innings. But with 94 pitches thrown, five hits and three walks allowed in that timeframe, that was the most the Brewers could ask from their ace as the Miz got a standing ovation at American Family Field when he walked off the mound.

DL Hall entered the game in his place, inheritng Mookie Betts on first base with one out in the inning.

Despite not having his best outing, Misiorowski somehow did enough to keep the Brewers in it with Tarik Skubal on the opposite mound. Brice Turang rewarded his efforts with a solo home run off of Skubal to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

"As he's matured this year, you've seen huge changes in this kid on how he's handled situations," manager Pat Murphy told reporters pregame. "He's not just excited to get out of the first. He doesn't want to burn any more energy. He wants to get out of the seventh."

A year ago, Jacob Misiorowski wasn't sure if he would make the postseason roster for the Milwaukee Brewers. He did, making three solid outings out of the bullpen before the Brewers were ultimately swept out of the NLCS by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This year, though, Misiorowski emerged as an ace, and one of the best in baseball at that.

If you ask him, not much has changed mechanically over the past year. The Miz is still a flamethrower with a fastball topping out at 105 mph (his first pitch on Sunday was a 102 mph heater), and now he's much more comfortable attacking the strike zone with his stuff. He attributes that to simply being more confident with a year of big league experience under his belt.

"The only thing is confidence," he told reporters on Saturday. "I think that was the big one. Going into last year's postseason, I didn't know if I was going to be on the roster. I didn't know if I was going to make it and help the team. This year they trust me a little bit more. So it's a little easier to get behind yourself."

Here's how Misiorowski fared in Sunday's outing against the Dodgers:

Jacob Misiorowski stats today Dodgers

• Innings pitched: 4.1
• Hits allowed: 5
• Runs allowed: 1
• Earned runs allowed: 1
• Walks: 3
• Strikeouts: 5
• Pitches thrown: 94
• Strikes thrown: 60

Jacob Misiorowski highlights

Jacob Misiorowski gets Kiké Hernández to ground into an inning-ending double play to limit the damage in the 1st pic.twitter.com/z9ST5lyO3g

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 12, 2026

Jacob Misiorowski is FIRED UP after striking out Shohei Ohtani to end the 3rd!@MLBONFOXpic.twitter.com/9TARmGorAs

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) October 12, 2026

Misiorowski with a fist pump as he gets out of another inning via the strikeout

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/DJWKivi5DP

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 12, 2026

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How did Jacob Misiorowski pitch tonight? NLCS Game 1 stats vs Dodgers

Are you ready for a rematch of the 2025 NLCS? The Dodgers swept the Brewers in last year’s NLCS in easy fashion. The Brewers scored just four runs in the series, one in each game. I, like most baseball fans I suspect, hope they can do better this time around.

The final four teams standing are the Dodgers, Brewers, Rays, and Guardians. That’s a team that has won the last two World Series, two teams that have never won, and a team that last won in 1948. Unless you are a full-time Dodgers fan, rooting for them in this postseason is a bad look.

In the regular season, the Brewers went 4-3 against the Dodgers. It was a very even series; the Dodgers outscored them 27-25. The Brewers are the top seed in all of baseball this year with 103 wins. They were also the top seed last year but it didn’t help them much.

Tonight’s pitching matchup is dreamy, to say the least. The Dodgers are sending out Tarik Skubal, the two-time reigning AL Cy Young. For the Brewers, it’s Jacob Misiorowski, who led the league in ERA, WHIP, and strikeouts this season. He regularly throws over 100 mph, and I mean regularly. It’s a pitching matchup that makes me feel like the Orioles getting their own Championship Series is so far away.

Dodgers lineup

Mookie Betts, SS

Freddie Freeman, 1B

Will Smith, C

Shohei Ohtani, DH

Teoscar Hernández, LF

Max Muncy, 3B

Andy Pages, CF

Kyle Tucker, RF

Kiké Hernández, 2B

Brewers lineup

Jackson Chourio, LF

Brice Turang, 2B

William Contreras, C

Jake Bauers, 1B

Andrew Vaughn, DH

Garrett Mitchell, CF

Cooper Pratt, SS

Luis Lara, RF

Joey Ortiz, 3B