MLB – Page 8 – Worldwide Sports News

October 13, 2026

Dodgers’ biggest advantages are disappearing at the worst possible time

An image collage containing 3 images, Image 1 shows Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani bats during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Image 2 shows Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman reacts after striking out against the Milwaukee Brewers, Image 3 shows Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto watches as Milwaukee Brewers' David Hamilton runs toward first base after hitting a single

MILWAUKEE – One by one, their advantages are vanishing.

Their edge in starting pitching?

Marginalized by the Brewers’ lineup.

Their superior offensive firepower?

Held without a home run in the first two games of this National League Championship Series.

Shohei Ohtani?

Reduced to being blown away by mid-90s fastballs.

The Dodgers are behind by two games in this race to four wins, and in the wake of their 7-4 defeat in Game 2 at American Family Field, they have to be praying for the Brewers to run out of gas before they reach the finish line.

“It’s certainly a challenge,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Before the Dodgers can win this series, they will have to get back into it first. They will play at home over the next three games. They have Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow lined up to pitch in Games 3 and 4, respectively.

“Still a pretty good scenario we’re in,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said.

Sending Snell and Glasnow to the mound won’t mean anything, however, if the Dodgers don’t start hitting. An error or wild pitch by the Brewers played a role in every run scored by the Dodgers, who collected only three hits, all of them coming against starter Logan Henderson. The four relievers deployed by Brewers manager Pat Murphy combined to pitch five no-hit innings.

The Dodgers will have to jumpstart their offense with a version of Shohei Ohtani who remains physically diminished.

Ohtani was 0 for 4 in Game 2, failing to reach base in a game for the first time this postseason. Pitching as if they didn’t think that Ohtani couldn’t hurt them, the Brewers attacked the four-time Most Valuable Player, leading to a couple of strikeouts in which he looked completely overmatched.

Henderson struck him out with three fastballs in the first inning. Left-hander JoJo Romero tricked him into waving at a sweeper that ended up in the batter’s box on the other side of home plate in the sixth.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto watches a single hit by Milwaukee Brewers third baseman David Hamilton during the third inning. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ohtani is batting .150 in the playoffs without a single run batted in. He’s struck out seven times in 20 at-bats. His last home run was on Aug. 18.

“It’s hard to see,” Betts said. “We know he’s working and hopefully he gets out of it. We need him. We need him for sure.”

Ohtani alone couldn’t take down the Brewers, regardless how well he was playing. In addition to a relentless bullpen, they have an unspectacular but industrious offense. They have the kind of edge that makes it obvious they believe they can take down the two-time defending World Series champions.

Game 2 was a prime example of that. If there was a game the Brewers were expected to drop, it was this one. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was pitching for the Dodgers.

The Brewers didn’t just beat Yamamoto. They wore him down, pushed him out of the game after only 2 ⅔ innings and forced Roberts to empty his bullpen. Tarik Skubal lasted only five innings against them in Game 1.

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman reacts after striking out during the eighth inning. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The result was an unmitigated disaster for the Dodgers, who have made it an annual tradition to have the Japanese right-hander bail them out of trouble at this time of the year.

The Dodgers were intimately familiar with the script from which the Brewers read.

Run up the pitch count of the starter.

Force him out of the game early.

Get into the other team’s bullpen.

Only this time, the Dodgers weren’t the team executing the game plan. They were the team against which the plan was being executed, and Yamamoto was the target of the attack.

Once the game morphed into a battle of the bullpens, the game was decided. The Brewers were able to play to their greatest strength. The Dodgers had to expose their greatest weakness.

To win the World Series last year, the Dodgers had to overcome a three-games-to-two deficit against the Toronto Blue Jays. Their title run the previous year started with them reversing a two-games-to-one deficit against the San Diego Padres.

The Dodgers have overcome deficits before.

But the Brewers are presenting them with the sort of problems they might not even be able to solve.

October 13, 2026

Dodgers need Brewers help to score, can’t stop William Contreras in NLCS Game 2 loss

Milwaukee, WI - October 12, 2026: Milwaukee Brewers William Contreras celebrates his home run in the fifith inning. The LA Dodgers play the Milwaukee Brewers in game two of the National League Championship Series at American Family Field, Milwaukee, WI on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Best laid plans went awry very early in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, the sloppiest and wildest game of the Dodgers postseason to date. In a game with four lead changes and two ties, the Dodgers couldn’t get a big hit to save their life, while William Contreras had three different run-scoring hits in the Brewers’ 7-4 win at American Family Field on Monday afternoon in Milwaukee.

The Dodgers head home to Los Angeles down two games to none, with their largest series deficit since the 2023 NLDS.

Chaos to start

It took until the 23rd half-inning of the series for one of these teams to score more than once in a frame, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Both Jacob Misiorowski and Tarik Skubal labored in big innings in Game 1, but limited the damage to just one run in the rallies.

After single runs for both teams in the first inning, Yoshinobu Yamamoto ran into trouble. David Hamilton singled and stole second base. Brice Turang, who battled back from an 0-2 count and an unchallenged potential third-strike ball call for a double to score in the first inning, worked his way back from an 0-2 count again to walk in the third.

With two outs and two on, first baseman Jake Bauers fouled off six full-count pitches before earning a walk to load the bases.

“Yamamoto — it’s such a big pitch mix,” Bauers said during his media availability before the game. “There’s a lot that you have to try and deal with, and I think you can fall into the trap of trying to guess along with him.”

It took only two more pitches for Yamamoto to hang a curveball to Christian Yelich — in easily the worst of his 14 major league seasons — who singled home two to turn a Dodgers lead into a Dodgers deficit. It also ended Yamamoto’s day, stunningly after needing 75 pitches to get only eight outs, the shortest of his 11 postseason start with the Dodgers.

The dozen pitches to Bauers were the most in any single plate appearance in Yamamoto’s three years in the majors, the entire battle taking seven minutes, 15 seconds per the Fox broadcast.

Only way the Dodgers scored

Brewers starter Logan Henderson allowed only three hits, one of them a ball booted by shortstop Cooper Pratt. Henderson also walked two, but it was three errant throws that proved his undoing. His wild pitch in the first inning put Mookie Betts on third base directly before scoring on a sacrifice fly.

Henderson in the third inning with runners on the corners threw wildly on a pickoff attempt of Betts at first base, allowing Tommy Edman to score from third base. After Kyle Tucker doubled to lead off the fifth inning, Henderson had another throwing error when Edman tried to sacrifice, not only scoring Tucker but putting Edman on second base. He would later score on another sacrifice fly, on a play so close at the plate it required replay review to confirm.

Getting the big hits, or not

Contreras, the Brewers three-time All-Star catcher, singled home a run off Yamamoto in the first inning to tie the game, homered off left-hander Kris Bubic in the fifth inning to tie the game, then singled home a run off Brock Stewart in the sixth to give the Brewers the lead.

It was the third multi-hit game in these playoffs for Contreras, who has three home runs this October.

The Dodgers’ three-time All-Star catcher, Will Smith, was dropped to fifth in the batting order on Monday and was hitless in four at-bats. Smith has one single in 23 at-bats this postseason, with eight strikeouts.

“Obviously want the results to be a little better, but at the end of the day, it’s [six] games at the plate,” Smith told reporters in Milwaukee on Monday before Game 2. “No panic from me. So I’ll be fine.”

Smith isn’t alone in struggles at the plate.

Shohei Ohtani, still batting fourth, was hitless in four at-bats with two strikeouts in Game 2, and has three singles in 19 at-bats plus three walks this postseason.

The Brewers tacked on insurance runs in the eighth inning off Edgardo Henriquez and Justin Wrobleski with three singles and a walk. That put the Brewers up 7-4, the first time either team led by more than one run in this series.

Game 2 of the NLCS was just the second of 27 games this postseason in which both teams scored at least four runs.

Against Henderson the Dodgers were hitless in all of four total at-bats with runners in scoring position, dropping them to 2-for-26 with runners in scoring position this postseason. But once he left with no outs in the fifth inning, the Brewers bullpen completely shut things down the rest of the way.

Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe, and Aaron Ashby faced 15 batters and retired them all. Ashby pitched in multiple innings for a second straight day, this time earning the save.

The Dodgers now face a major uphill battle once they get back home.

NLCS Game 2 particulars

Home run: William Contreras (3)

WP — JoJo Romero (1-1): 1 IP 2 strikeouts

LP — Brock Stewart (0-1): 2/3 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Sv — Aaron Ashby (1): 1 2/3 IP, 2 strikeouts

Up next

The NLCS moves location to Los Angeles beginning with Game 3 on Wednesday evening (5 p.m., FS1). Blake Snell probably starts for the Dodgers, though Dave Roberts earlier Monday wasn’t willing to confirm their plans just yet. Left-hander Robert Gasser starts on the mound for the Brewers.

October 13, 2026

Believe in the Brewers yet? Milwaukee in dreamland, Dodgers desperate after wild Game 2

MILWAUKEE — Now do you believe in the Milwaukee Brewers?

Do you believe that there was no fluke that the Brewers won 103 games this season, the most in the major leagues?

Now, do you believe the Brewers are on their way to reaching the World Series for the first time since 1982, and trying to win their first in franchise history?

Well, the entire state of Wisconsin sure does, watching their beloved Brewers rolling out the barrel over the powerful Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-4 Monday afternoon, taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series in front of a frenzied sellout crowd at American Family Field.

This is the first time in the Brewers 58-year history that they have ever taken a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series.

The last time the Dodgers won a postseason series when trailing 2 games to 0 was in the COVID postseason of 2020 when they came back to beat Atlanta, and ultimately won their first World Series since 1988.

But in a full season, the Dodgers haven’t managed to pull off the feat since the 1981 World Series against the New York Yankees.

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An image collage containing 3 images, Image 1 shows Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras celebrates with his arms raised after hitting a home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Image 2 shows Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani swings and misses during a game, Image 3 shows Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith meets with pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers

MILWAUKEE –– The Dodgers were hoping to hit the reset switch on Monday.

Instead, all they did was slam down on the panic button.

Losing Game 1 of this National League Championship Series rematch against the Milwaukee Brewers was one thing. Dropping Game 2 on Monday, however, threatened to put their season in suddenly dire straits.

Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras celebrates after hitting a home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fifth inning. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani strikes out during the sixth inning. AP Photo/Abbie Parr

This time, after all, they weren’t facing a presumptive Cy Young Award winner like Jacob Misiorowski. This time, more importantly, they had their own postseason stalwart, reigning World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, on the hill to calm the waters.

But in a 7-4 defeat at American Family Field, an unexpected thing happened.

Yamamoto, despite entering with a five-game playoff win streak and the second-lowest postseason ERA in the last 100 years, couldn’t steady the two-time defending champions.

The Brewers, who allowed Yamamoto to throw a complete game against them on the very same mound in Game 2 of last year’s NLCS sweep, turned the tables decisively with long, relentless, unforgiving offensive rallies.

“They had much better at-bats than we did across the board, top to bottom, and then they put the ball in play, created havoc,” manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s what they do, and we didn’t do that. That’s the difference in the game … They did what needed to do tonight.”

Indeed, Yamamoto would last only 2 ⅔ innings in a 75-pitch grind against Milwaukee’s pesky, opportunistic offense. Despite being handed a pair of early one-run leads, he would depart the mound with the Dodgers behind.

It was a demoralizing turn of events –– keyed by a couple missed ABS challenge opportunities for Will Smith, an epic 12-pitch battle by Brewers slugger Jake Bauers, and a go-ahead two-run single from former MVP Christian Yelich that ultimately chased Yamamoto from the game.

While the contest would go back-and-forth from there, Yamamoto’s early exit gave the Dodgers’ bullpen too tall a task to withstand, sending the team back to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday desperately needing a response to a stunning two-games-to-none deficit.

“We got a lot of experience, we’ve been through everything before,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “So we’ll regroup tomorrow and go get ’em on Wednesday.”

Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith meets with pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound during the third inning against the Milwaukee Brewers. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Dodgers did open the scoring Monday, manufacturing a first-inning run after Mookie Betts drew a leadoff walk, took second on a grounder, advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on a Teoscar Hernández sacrifice fly.

However, the Brewers responded with a rally of their own in the bottom of the first –– one that set the tone for their plan of attack against Yamamoto on Sunday.

With one out in the inning, Yamamoto seemed to freeze Brice Turang for a called third strike. But, home plate umpire Chris Segal inaccurately ruled it a ball, and Smith declined to use an ABS challenge behind the plate. Three pitches later, it would prove costly, with Turang getting a full-count fastball in the zone and slicing into left for a double. In the next at-bat, William Contreras came up and somehow stayed on a 2-2 slider less than a foot off the dirt, lofting a line drive just over Max Muncy’s head at third for an RBI single.

“It was kind of early in the game,” Smith said of the ABS decision. “We kind of had him on the ropes where we could just [try to] get him out there [even without the challenge].”

Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras hits an RBI single against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

A similar story would play out in the third, as the Brewers erased a 2-1 lead the Dodgers took on an errant pickoff throw from Brewers starter Logan Henderson in the top half of the frame.

That inning began with a David Hamilton single. Then, after he stole second, Turang would again benefit from a missed ABS challenge opportunity –– with Smith declining to appeal another potential third strike in a full count, even as Yamamoto seemingly suggested he do so by pointing at his head himself on the mound.

“In that spot, Will didn’t feel like it was a strike,” Roberts said, trying not to secong-guess his catcher. “But obviously if you look back, [if] that’s a called third strike … that changes the outing.”

Once again, it set a disaster in motion. With an extra out to get, Yamamoto failed to complete the inning.

Instead, Bauers stepped up with two outs and forced Yamamoto into the longest plate appearance of his MLB career, drawing a walk from a grueling dozen-pitch battle.

After working a full-count, Bauers fouled off the next seven pitches he saw, chopping balls off the plate, to the backstop, into the seats, and –– twice –– just out of the reach of Dodgers fielders in foul territory.

The seven-minute duel went on so long, the battery in Yamamoto’s PitchCom device died after his 11th pitch, causing a delay while he was brought a replacement from the dugout.

“It just got to a certain point where it was straight compete mode,” Bauers said. “A little bit of a blackout, just kind of in the flow a little bit competing.”

Finally, on pitch No. 12, Bauers took a curveball in the dirt, loading the bases.

In the next at-bat, a clearly fatigued Yamamoto hung a curveball to Yelich, who lined his two-run single to center to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead.

Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras celebrates his home run with teammate Jake Bauers during the fifth inning of Game 2. AP Photo/Abbie Parr

That would be the end of Yamamoto’s day, marking the shortest outing of his playoff career. It would also leave too many innings for the Dodgers’ bullpen to cover –– even after the team retook the lead with a two-run rally in the fifth that was keyed by another throwing error from Henderson.

In the bottom of the fifth, Contreras greeted left-hander Kris Bubic with a towering game-tying home run that clanged off the bottom of the center-field scoreboard.

In the sixth, it would be Contreras again to push the Brewers back in front, lining a first-pitch single to left against Brock Stewart –– who had made his own mess by hitting a batter and firing an errant pickoff throw to first –– that gave the Brewers’ star catcher his third RBI of the day.

This time, the Dodgers wouldn’t have an answer, nor be gifted another pathway back into the game.

Rather, for a second-straight night, they were completely shut down by the Brewers’ bullpen, going 15 up, 15 down without a single baserunner after Henderson’s exit to finish the game with just three hits.

The Brewers, meanwhile, tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth, removing any pretense of late-game drama before a jubilant sell-out crowd.

Now, the Dodgers face a two-game hole they would have never imagined. Alarm bells are ringing. Their season, and World Series three-peat hopes, are dangerously close to being dashed.

Have the Brewers won the World Series?

No, the Brewers have not won the World Series in their 57-year history. The club was established in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots, but moved to Milwaukee and rebranded as the Brewers the following year after the Milwaukee Braves relocated to Atlanta.

The Brewers have reached the postseason 12 times, including this year. Their first playoff appearance was in 1981 when they made it to the American League Division Series. They had a postseason drought from 1983 to 2008 when they reached the National League Division Series.

They switched from the American League to National League in 1998.

Baseball icon Hank Aaron played for the club in 1975 and 1976 before they reached the postseason.

How many times have the Brewers reached the World Series?

Milwaukee has played in the World Series one time. The Brewers faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1982 World Series, which went to seven games.

That 1982 Brewers team featured x players who would eventually be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Rollie Fingers, Don Sutton, Robin Yount, Paul Molitor and Ted Simmons.

With Simmons batting cleanup and five hits from Molitor, the Brewers started the series strong and won the first game 10-0. The Cardinals responded by winning the next two games to go up in the series. The Brewers took the next two matchups, but the Cardinals won the sixth game 13-1 before winning the championship 6-3 in the final game.

Catcher Darrell Porter was named the World Series MVP in his second season with the Cardinals after he replaced Simmons as the backstop in St. Louis.

The Brewers reached the World Series by beating the then-California Angels in the American League Championship Series 3-2.