The Milwaukee Brewers have finally done it for the first time in 44 years.
After the franchise’s lone World Series appearance as an American League team back in 1982, they’re headed back to the Fall Classic as a National League team for the first time ever in 2026.
To do it, they played some more come-from-behind Brewers baseball to complete a sweep of the two-time reigning World Champion Dodgers, returning the favor after Los Angeles swept them in last year’s NLCS.
With Shane Drohan on a playoff mound for the first time in his young career, things got off to a shaky start. After setting down Shohei Ohtani, he walked a pair in the first inning but escaped the jam with a 6-4-3 double play.
The second didn’t start any better, as Kyle Tucker hit a single, marking the end of Drohan’s day as Dustin May replaced him. The Dodgers kept rolling against May, with Teoscar Hernández singling to put runners at the corners with no outs.
After a Max Muncy strikeout, Andy Pages singled to bring in the first run of the night, giving the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead. Enrique Hernández then lined out, but Ohtani crushed his first homer of the postseason, creating a four-run deficit through just two innings.
Needing some offense, the Brewers couldn’t get anything going early. Tyler Glasnow, who had a perfect game through the first 10 batters, finally faltered with one out in the fourth. He walked Brice Turang and then gave up back-to-back ground-rule doubles to William Contreras and Jake Bauers, cutting the lead in half to 4-2 after four frames.
In the fifth, Milwaukee mounted another rally.
After Cooper Pratt flew out, Sal Frelick drew a walk, swiped second base, and scored on a David Hamilton single. Evan Phillips took over from Glasnow and got Chourio to line out, but he allowed a stolen base by Hamilton before walking both Turang and Contreras, loading the bases for new pitcher Alex Vesia.
The command issues continued with Bauers at the plate, as Milwaukee’s first baseman drew a four-pitch walk to knot the game back up at 4-4.
On the pitching side, JoJo Romero took over for May in the bottom of the inning, striking out Ohtani and Freddie Freeman around a groundout by Mookie Betts to maintain the tie.
That tie wouldn’t last very long.
Leading off the sixth, Garrett Mitchell fell behind 0-2 against the lefty Tanner Scott. He then took three balls to work the count back to full before Scott left a four-seamer down the middle, which Mitchell promptly crushed to right-center, his second homer in as many nights to give Milwaukee a 5-4 lead.
The Dodgers threatened against Milwaukee’s bullpen in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, getting a runner to third via a double in all three frames but failing to get the run across in each case.
Looking for insurance, Hamilton crushed a homer to right-center in the top of the ninth, his first homer of the postseason after slugging just four homers in the regular season.
Aaron Ashby, who has been absolute nails for Milwaukee throughout the series, worked a perfect ninth to finish off three more strong innings, striking out three to secure the sweep and Milwaukee’s first NL pennant in franchise history.
How about your NL CHAMPION MILWAUKEE BREWERS?!?!
Another balanced attack with a whole lot of small ball — Milwaukee had just five hits tonight, drawing five walks and coming up in the moments when it mattered most to score six unanswered runs after a rough start from Drohan and May.
Romero and Ashby worked five scoreless innings in relief, striking out six while allowing three hits (all doubles) but stranding all three of those runners at third.
Bauers, who drew the game-tying walk in the fifth, earned NLCS MVP. IN this four-game set, Bauers went 4-for-14 with a homer, a double, three walks, and six RBIs. What those numbers don’t include, however, are Bauers’ incredible 12-pitch and 11-pitch at-bats on Monday and Wednesday, respectively, culminating in a walk and a homer that completely changed the narrative of Games 2 and 3.
While Bauers earned the MVP, make no mistake that this was a balanced attack.
Ashby was incredible with 6 2/3 scoreless innings across three outings, earning a pair of saves and allowing just two hits and a walk. Contreras went 5-for-14 with a homer, a double, and three RBIs. Mitchell slugged a pair of big homers. Even Hamilton went 4-for-7 with a homer and three steals despite only appearing in two games.
The Brewers will now spend the next week preparing as they await an opponent for their first World Series appearance in 44 years. It will be either the Tampa Bay Rays or the Cleveland Guardians — Cleveland leads that series 2-1 entering Friday’s Game 4. We’ll have plenty of coverage over the next week, but for now, pour one out for Bob Uecker and the 2026 NL Champion Brewers.
