The Los Angeles Dodgers’ dreams of a historic World Series three-peat came crashing down Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, where the Milwaukee Brewers completed one of the most emphatic postseason statements in recent memory. Behind a relentless comeback, timely home runs and another dominant bullpen performance, Milwaukee erased a four-run deficit to defeat Los Angeles 6-4 in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, sweeping the two-time defending champions and securing the franchise’s first World Series appearance since 1982.
For a Dodgers organization that has spent years establishing itself as the National League’s premier powerhouse, the elimination was more than another disappointing October exit. It was a stunning reversal of fortune against the same Milwaukee club Los Angeles swept out of the NLCS just one year earlier.
The Dodgers appeared determined to avoid elimination early, jumping ahead 4-0 in the second inning. Andy Pages delivered an RBI single before Shohei Ohtani finally broke out of his postseason power drought with a towering three-run home run. The blast, Ohtani’s first since August 18, electrified the Dodger Stadium crowd and briefly suggested that Los Angeles might have enough fight left to extend the series.
Milwaukee had other plans.
The Brewers began chipping away in the fourth inning when Jake Bauers delivered a two-run double, cutting the deficit in half. An inning later, Milwaukee loaded the bases and continued applying pressure, with Bauers drawing a bases-loaded walk that tied the contest at four. The comeback demonstrated the same patient, fundamentally sound approach that helped Milwaukee finish the regular season with Major League Baseball’s best record at 103-59.
The decisive blow came in the sixth inning when Garrett Mitchell launched a go-ahead solo home run off Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott, giving Milwaukee its first lead of the night at 5-4. David Hamilton added insurance with a solo shot in the ninth, providing the Brewers with a two-run cushion heading into the final three outs.
While the offense supplied the comeback, Milwaukee’s bullpen made certain there would be no Hollywood ending for the defending champions. JoJo Romero earned the victory, and left-hander Aaron Ashby delivered a remarkable three-inning save, shutting down the Dodgers’ final opportunities to keep their season alive.
When Jackson Chourio secured the final out in left field, Milwaukee’s dugout emptied onto the Dodger Stadium diamond in celebration of a National League pennant that had eluded the franchise for more than four decades.
Bauers, whose contributions throughout the series proved instrumental in Milwaukee’s offensive success, earned NLCS Most Valuable Player honors after driving in six runs during the four-game sweep. His emergence as a postseason difference-maker epitomized a Brewers roster that repeatedly found production from players outside baseball’s traditional superstar conversation.
The sweep was particularly remarkable because Milwaukee trailed at some point in all four games, yet never allowed Los Angeles to finish the job. The Brewers opened the series with a 2-1 victory at American Family Field, followed with a 7-4 win in Game 2 and took complete control with a 6-2 triumph in Game 3 before Thursday’s comeback completed the humiliation.
For Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, the series exposed offensive inconsistencies that proved impossible to overcome despite a roster loaded with former MVPs, All-Stars and some of the game’s highest-paid players. Los Angeles finished the NLCS just 5-for-43 with runners in scoring position, a staggering .116 average that illustrated its inability to produce timely hits when games were hanging in the balance.
Even Ohtani’s three-run blast in the elimination game couldn’t rescue a lineup that repeatedly failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities. The Dodgers held leads in all four contests but couldn’t secure a single victory against a Milwaukee team that executed more consistently when the pressure intensified.
The result also raises legitimate questions about the balance of power in the National League. Los Angeles entered the postseason pursuing a third consecutive World Series championship, an accomplishment no Major League franchise has achieved since the New York Yankees won three straight titles from 1998 through 2000. Instead, the Dodgers were sent home by a smaller-market organization that relied on player development, situational hitting, aggressive baserunning and bullpen depth to overcome one of baseball’s most expensive rosters.
Under manager Pat Murphy, Milwaukee has built a team whose identity revolves around collective execution rather than individual star power. That philosophy carried the Brewers through a 103-win regular season and ultimately through the National League’s defending champions without suffering a single NLCS defeat.
The accomplishment carries even greater historical significance for Milwaukee, which last reached the Fall Classic in 1982, when Hall of Famers Robin Yount, Paul Molitor and Rollie Fingers helped lead the franchise to its first American League pennant. Those Brewers eventually fell to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
Forty-four years later, Milwaukee has captured its first National League pennant and will enter the World Series with an opportunity to claim the franchise’s first championship.
The Brewers will now await the winner of the American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays. Game 1 of the World Series is scheduled for October 23, with Milwaukee holding home-field advantage after finishing with the best regular-season record in baseball.
For Los Angeles, the offseason arrives much earlier than anticipated, along with difficult questions about how a championship-caliber roster failed to win even one game in the NLCS. The Dodgers will undoubtedly remain contenders, but their aura of postseason invincibility has taken a significant hit.
For Milwaukee, the conversation has shifted from whether the Brewers could challenge the Dodgers’ dominance to whether they can finish the job and bring a World Series championship to Wisconsin for the first time in franchise history.
The Dodgers’ three-peat is officially dead. Their National League reign has been interrupted, and the Brewers have taken the pennant with authority.
Now, the Brew Crew is four victories away from baseball immortality.
- Sha Be Allah
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