The Milwaukee Brewers moved one win from their first World Series appearance in 44 years, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night to take a commanding 3-0 lead over the back-to-back defending champions.
Jackson Chourio set the tone before most of the crowd at Dodger Stadium had settled into its seats, lining the very first pitch of the game from Dodgers lefty Blake Snell into the seats for a leadoff home run. Milwaukee starter Robert Gasser, a midseason call-up from Triple-A, answered with five scoreless innings. The Dodgers finally broke through in the sixth, when Will Smith ripped a two-run double off reliever Abner Uribe, who had loaded the bases with three walks, tying the game at 2.
Bauers and Mitchell Answer Back
Milwaukee's response came fast. With one out in the seventh, Jake Bauers fouled off three straight two-strike pitches in an 11-pitch at-bat before turning on a fastball and sending it into the right-field pavilion for a two-run homer. Garrett Mitchell followed immediately with a solo shot of his own, and the Brewers tacked on two more runs over the final two innings. Reliever DL Hall, who worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Uribe, picked up the win, and Trevor Megill closed it out for his fourth save of the postseason. Snell took the loss despite striking out nine over six innings, the final line undone by three solo-caliber swings. A full account of the day's box score shows Milwaukee out-homered Los Angeles 3-0.
It was the fifth time in seven postseason games this October that the Brewers have erased a deficit, tying the 1996 Yankees and 1980 Phillies for the most comeback wins to open a team's playoff run. A year ago, Milwaukee was swept by these same Dodgers in this same round. A sweep in the other direction now would make the Brewers the first team in MLB history to be swept from the playoffs one October and sweep the same opponent the next.
History Is Not on Los Angeles' Side
Forty-two teams have fallen behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series; only two have forced a Game 7, and just one — the 2004 Boston Red Sox, against the Yankees — has ever completed the comeback. Los Angeles is trying to become the first team to win three consecutive World Series titles since the Yankees' 1998-2000 run.
It's resiliency. It's a belief. It's all those things. Our guys have done it.
Pat Murphy, Brewers manager
This one sucks. We've got to find a way to turn the page quick, because tomorrow is going to be here pretty fast. If we lose, we're done.
Kiké Hernández, Dodgers infielder
Chourio, speaking through interpreter Daniel de Mondesert, was careful not to get ahead of the moment. "Definitely, it feels better that we have things in our favor this go-around, and we have the advantage," he said. "Like I said before, we have yet to complete anything."
Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, with first pitch at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. A Dodgers loss would end Los Angeles' bid for a third straight championship and send Milwaukee to its first World Series since 1982; a win would only delay the inevitable reckoning with the history working against them.
