The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Sunday night in Game 1 of the NLCS, a rematch a year in the making. Rookie Luis Lara delivered the decisive blow, stinging a first-pitch Tarik Skubal changeup up the gut in the fifth inning to score Garrett Mitchell.
Mitchell had drawn a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a Cooper Pratt sacrifice bunt. Milwaukee can score in many ways, but taking a fifth-inning lead on a manufactured run and holding it the rest of the way captured the team’s march to the NLCS. It also showed that these are not the same Brewers who were swept by the Dodgers last year.
Bullpen takes over
Milwaukee’s bullpen was the story of Game 1. DL Hall, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill combined for 4⅔ scoreless innings and escaped several dangerous situations with composure. Uribe struck out a batter to strand two and keep Milwaukee ahead. Ashby deserves special credit after covering two innings and inducing a pair of eighth-inning infield popups, one from Freddie Freeman and one from Shohei Ohtani.
Defense bails out Misiorowski
Jacob Misiorowski struggled early, but Milwaukee’s defense kept the game under control. The Brewers turned three double plays, including 6-4-3 twin killings to end the first and second innings. After Misiorowski exited in the fifth, Hall immediately induced an inning-ending double play to stop another potential rally.
Skubal and the Brewers’ late charge
Skubal was sharp early, recording six strikeouts through the first three innings. Milwaukee still answered in the late innings, with Brice Turang tying the game before Lara’s go-ahead hit in the fifth proved enough.
What it means for the Dodgers
Since the Dodgers’ championship-winning run began in 2024, this is only the second time they have lost the opening game of a playoff series. The first came in last year’s World Series, when they bounced back to beat the Blue Jays in Game 2 with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. Yamamoto will start Game 2 on Monday at 5 p.m. ET. Starting down 2-0 in the series against a team as strong as the Brewers could create real trouble for Los Angeles, so the Dodgers need a strong response.
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