The Milwaukee Brewers are headed to the World Series for the first time in 44 years, and they got there by pulling off something MLB had never seen before.
On Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, Milwaukee finished off a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 6-4 win in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. That victory gave the Brewers their first National League pennant and shut the door on Los Angeles’ bid for a third straight World Series title.
It also put the Brewers in the league’s record book.
According to MLB, Milwaukee became the first team to sweep an opponent in a postseason series one year after that same opponent had swept it out of the playoffs. The Dodgers had beaten the Brewers in four straight games in the 2025 NLCS. One postseason later, Milwaukee answered in kind.
For the Brewers, this trip to the pennant round carried plenty of memory from last October. Los Angeles has been a familiar obstacle, eliminating Milwaukee from the playoffs three times over the past decade, including that sweep in the previous NLCS. This time around, the Brewers flipped the script and never let the series slip from their grasp.
Milwaukee opened the matchup with a 2-1 win, then followed with a 7-4 victory in Game 2 and a 6-2 win in Game 3 to move within one game of the World Series. Even after a brutal start in Game 4, the Brewers stayed in control of their response.
The Dodgers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning, fueled by a three-run home run from Shohei Ohtani. For a moment, Los Angeles looked ready to force the series back home and keep its repeat hopes alive.
Instead, Milwaukee dug in.
The Brewers scored twice in the fourth inning and added two more in the fifth to erase the deficit. Garrett Mitchell then delivered the swing that turned the night, launching the go-ahead home run in the sixth. David Hamilton added an insurance homer in the ninth, sealing the comeback and the sweep.
The World Series appearance ends a long wait for Milwaukee. The franchise has not played in the Fall Classic since 1982, when it was still in the American League, and that team fell to the St.
Louis Cardinals in seven games. The Brewers have never won a World Series title, so this group now has a chance to do something no Milwaukee club has done before.
This October has already been different from so many others for the Brewers. They beat San Diego in the National League Division Series and then took down the two-time defending champions without giving them a single victory in the NLCS. Through it all, Milwaukee has shown it can handle tight games, bounce back after trouble and deliver the big hit when it matters.
Now the Brewers wait to see who they’ll face next. Their World Series opponent will come from the American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays, with Cleveland holding a 2-1 edge entering Friday’s Game 4.
Game 1 of the World Series is set for Friday, October 23, in Milwaukee.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, will spend the offseason with an unexpectedly early exit. They entered October chasing a third straight championship, but the Brewers slammed that door shut and never let it reopen.
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Guardians Loss May Have Quietly Set Up The Rest Of This Series
The Guardians did enough early to make Game 4 feel like a chance to even the ALCS, but the game slipped away once the Rays pushed across runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Even so, the loss may not have been as damaging as it first looked, because Cleveland managed to avoid leaning too heavily on the bullpen and preserve its most important relief arms for the rest of the series.
That matters with the matchup still hanging in the balance, especially after Tampa Bay also went through several pitchers in the same game. Both clubs now have some moving pieces to sort through on the mound, and the way each staff is managed over the next few days could end up shaping the rest of the series just as much as the score from Game 4. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Face A Real October Decision On Travis Bazzana
Travis Bazzana has given the Guardians enough at the plate to keep his name in the lineup conversation, but the glove has made things a little less straightforward as October has worn on. The rookie second baseman has flashed real offensive value, yet his seven errors at the position have become hard to ignore, and the latest reminder came in a recent game against the Rays.
Stephen Vogt has already shown he is willing to make a late-game switch at second, turning to Angel Genao in postseason situations to tighten things up defensively. So the question hanging over Cleveland is a familiar one for any contender with a young infielder in the spotlight: how much offense can they afford to keep in the lineup if the defense keeps giving away outs? [Read more 🡒]
Travis Bazzana May Have Just Changed Cleveland's ALCS Outlook
Travis Bazzana delivered his best postseason game yet in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, reaching base three times against the Tampa Bay Rays and giving Cleveland a jolt when it needed one. The rookie second baseman finished with a home run, a walk, a run scored and an RBI, and his first career playoff homer helped spark a rally even in a loss.
For a Guardians lineup that has been searching for steady production in a tight series, Bazzana's timing mattered almost as much as the box score. Cleveland did not finish the job, but the performance helped level the matchup at two games apiece and hinted at a player who may be starting to settle into the postseason stage at exactly the right time. [Read more 🡒]