Showing posts with label Milwaukee Brewers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Milwaukee Brewers. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 October 2026
Saturday, 24 October 2026
Wednesday, 21 October 2026
3 WORLD SERIES LESSONS FROM BREWERS' REFULAR SEASON MATCHUP WITH RAYS
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| Mar 30, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras (24) watches his two-run home run off of Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Nick Martinez (28) during the sixth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect |
For a decent projection of the 2026 World Series matchup, the natural first place to look is at how the Brewers and Rays matched up in the regular season. And thankfully for Milwaukee, the results point in their favor. The Brew Crew won two of their three regular-season games against the Rays, all in America's Dairyland, by a nine-run margin — Milwaukee scored 16 runs to Tampa Bay's seven.
Granted, this was so long ago that both teams look completely different by now. They haven't faced each other since early April, and the Rays have undergone a major transformation since that fateful World Series preview. Their bullpen has pulled itself together, and offensively, this team has found a rhythm that will be hard to stymie.
Nonetheless, there are still details to pull from that series that'll surely reflect on this year's World Series matchup and hopefully give us a sign of what's to come.
1. Brewers need to ride the hot hands of William Contreras and Jake Bauers to beat the Rays.
The NLCS MVP, Jake Bauers, began his emergence as Milwaukee's breakout offensive hero with an electric series against the Rays, hitting three balls and scoring three runs, including a home run, in 10 at-bats versus Tampa Bay. The same could be said for star catcher William Contreras, who rocked four hits, including a home run for two RBIs in 12 chances in that series.
It's only right for Bauers and Contreras to finish their season the same way they started it — cooking at the plate against the Rays, with all the confidence in the world and the support of Milwaukee behind them. It's almost certainly a recipe for offensive success.
2. Brice Turang can change the narrative of his playoffs facing Tampa Bay in the World Series.
It hasn't been an easy postseason run for one of the best second basemen in baseball, despite showing his chops defensively as an elite fielder in a vital position. But offensively, Turang has struggled in the postseason, batting just .222 for six hits in 27 plate appearances. But if he can channel some of what worked for him in the regular season against Tampa Bay, when he hit three balls in eight at-bats for four RBIs and three walks, he can wipe the slate clean and start anew.
3. If history repeats itself, Milwaukee's pitchers don't need to be perfect to win against the Rays.
These weren't the best games for the Brewers' bullpen, allowing multiple runs in every game and seven in the series. But Milwaukee's steadfast defense and consistent strikeout potential kept them in every game, every inning, limiting Tampa Bay's explosive innings that helped them get to this point in the postseason.
Starters Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson allowed a combined eight hits in 11 innings, but only three earned runs in total. And frankly, they should both be far more confident and prepared for this outing than they were in their first go-around against the Rays. So if they can channel some of that same energy, the Brewers have a serious shot at winning their first World Series in franchise history.
- Dylan Carter
Saturday, 17 October 2026
SOURCE SPORTS: BREWERS DETHONE DODGERS WITH NLCS SWEEP, PUNCH FIRST WORLD SERIES IN 44 YEARS
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
Tuesday, 13 October 2026
Saturday, 4 July 2026
DODGERS' SHOHEI OHTANI WON'T PITCH IN ALL-STAR GAME
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says he is not ready to make it official, but moving Ohtani’s pitching start this week means he would have to pitch on short rest in the All-Star Game and the Dodgers are not likely to ask him to do that
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| After a recent change to his pitching schedule, Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani will likely just be a hitter in the All-Star Game later this month in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) |
LOS ANGELES — It’s not official. But it’s obvious.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged Friday that the decision to move back Shohei Ohtani’s start this week will make him unavailable to pitch in the All-Star Game later this month.
“I think so,” said Roberts, who is the National League manager for this year’s game. “I haven’t formally said it. But if you just kind of do the math, it would be hard to imagine. But I don’t have to make that decision quite yet.”
The full rosters for the All-Star Game will be announced on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on FOX (Ch. 11). Ohtani has already earned the starting spot as the NL DH by leading all players in voting during the first phase.
Ohtani started Friday night against the San Diego Padres and is lined up to start again next Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. That would put him on just three days of rest before the All-Star Game in Philadelphia. The Dodgers have asked him to pitch on as little as five days of rest just once this season.
Ohtani has only pitched in the All-Star Game once. He started for the American League in 2021 at Coors Field in Denver.
Roberts will have two strong options when choosing his starting pitcher even with Ohtani out of the mix – Milwaukee Brewers flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski or hometown 1Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez.
Ohtani had an 0.74 ERA through his first 10 pitching starts this season but has slipped since then. Over three starts before Friday, Ohtani allowed 11 runs (nine earned) in 18⅔ innings.
Dalton Rushing has been behind the plate for each of those starts, and the two were visibly at odds during Ohtani’s start in Minnesota last week.
“Some of it is Shohei hasn’t had his best stuff recently and that’s the truth,” Roberts said before Friday’s game. “The fastball command hasn’t been what it was earlier in the season. The sweeper hasn’t been the same. He’s started using the split a little bit more recently, which he was using a lot more earlier in the season. So there’s a lot of variables outside of just saying it’s the catcher.”
RUSH POWER
Rushing has been surging at the plate, going 8 for 18 (.444) with a double and two home runs in five games through Thursday. He hit just .179 (15 for 84) in 29 games before that.
Roberts gets some credit for the turnaround. Before last Saturday’s game in San Diego, he went to Rushing with some hitting advice, backed up by video.
“He’s taken it and run with it,” Roberts said. “It was just more of a cue on who he is as a hitter, getting back to finding his particular strike zone versus trying to chase the pitcher all around the hitting zone.
“I pulled some video to show when he is good and what he’s been doing the last couple months. … It kind of landed with him. I ran it by the hitting coaches, so I didn’t go rogue. I got their blessing.”
MAKING PROGRESS
After ruling both catcher Will Smith and utility man Kiké Hernandez out for a return before the All-Star break, both have made progress in their recoveries during the homestand.
Roberts said Smith has been throwing and even hit in the batting cage on Thursday. Smith has been out since June 5 with an inflamed disc in his neck.
Hernandez took batting practice on the field with the team Friday. He has been out since May 26 with an oblique strain suffered in his second game back after recovering from elbow surgery.
UP NEXT
Padres (RHP Griffin Canning, 1-5, 7.09 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 8-5, 2.67 ERA), Saturday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM
- BILL PLUNKETT
Saturday, 18 October 2025
WHY YOU SHOULD ALREADY BET ON THE OOS ANGELES DODGERS TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES
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| Jul 22, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts (50) in the dugout prior to the first inning of the game against the Minnesota Twins at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images |
Half of the World Series matchup is set as the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled off a four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS.
The Dodgers are waiting for their opponent, who they can know as soon as Sunday. The Seattle Mariners pulled away from the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, 6-2, to take a 3-2 series advantage in the ALCS.
Game 6 takes place on Sunday night in Toronto as the Jays not only try to save their season, but also grab their first home win of the series.
We’ll look at two plays to jump ahead of the World Series next week. Remember to monitor the odds throughout the day, as the props and totals market is constantly changing.
Here are two free MLB picks for Saturday, October 18.
BEST MLB PLAYS TODAY
Dodgers to beat Mariners (+105)
Mookie Betts - World Series MVP (+1800)
DODGERS TO BEAT MARINERS (+105 AT DRAFTKINGS)
The Dodgers are -185 favorites to win the World Series at DraftKings, but you can grab better odds if you believe they’ll face the Mariners.
Seattle has two shots to win at Toronto, where they are already 2-0 in the ALCS. Also, the M’s have better starting pitching options in the final two games with Logan Gilbert and George Kirby likely in line to take the ball.
The Dodgers own home-field advantage in the World Series and will have the four-headed starting pitching monster of Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani to turn to.
It’s better to jump on this exact World Series result before Sunday as opposed to laying a huge price if you think the Dodgers will win their second straight title.
MOOKIE BETTS - WORLD SERIES MVP (+1800 AT DRAFTKINGS)
There are several attractive choices on the Dodgers to win World Series MVP. But first, let’s eliminate some options.
There has never been a player that has won consecutive World Series MVP awards, so it likely means Freddie Freeman (+900) won’t duplicate last October’s performance of four home runs and 12 RBIs.
Since 2009, only two pitchers have won MVP — San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner in 2014 and Washington’s Stephen Strasburg in 2019. So it’s hard to back Snell (+1500), Yamamoto (+3000), and Glasnow (+15000).
Ohtani is the betting favorite at +200, coming off an incredible performance in the NLCS clincher against Milwaukee, hitting three home runs and picking up a victory on the mound.
Everything resets in the World Series, but Ohtani was 6-for-38 in the playoffs before his incredible performance in Game 4. Also, the number is too short to bet when there is more value elsewhere.
Now we get to Betts, who led the Dodgers through the first three rounds with 12 hits. He sits at 18/1 odds, which is a nice payout and someone who has a realistic chance to win this award.
Freeman exploded in last season’s World Series, starting with his walk-off grand slam in Game 1 against the Yankees. Betts still managed five hits and four RBI in the series victory, marking the third time in his career that he has picked up at least five hits in the World Series.
- KEVIN ROGERS
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