The Dodgers walked out of Game 2 with more than a loss. They left with a brutal piece of postseason history attached to it.
After taking a 4-3 lead, Los Angeles watched its offense vanish over the final five innings of a 7-4 defeat to the Brewers, and the last 15 Dodgers hitters of the night never reached base. Milwaukee used four relievers to keep the line moving, and according to ESPN, it was the first time a bullpen had thrown five perfect innings in a postseason game in MLB history.
That kind of collapse is hard to shrug off, especially because it wasn’t just one part of the order going quiet. The Dodgers’ Nos. 2-7 hitters finished 0-for-20 against Logan Henderson, Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby. Two of the four runs Los Angeles scored against Henderson were unearned, which only makes the offensive drought look even thinner.
This has become more than a bad night. Through the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers have shown a version of themselves at the plate that looks far removed from a championship-level attack, and the issues didn’t start here.
They carried those problems out of the NL Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, where they hit .203 with a .655 OPS. Their pitching masked it by holding Atlanta to a .145 average and .501 OPS, but the warning signs were there.
Game 2 was less about bad luck and more about how the at-bats unfolded. Max Muncy saw eight pitches across three plate appearances.
Tommy Edman saw five. On the other side, Milwaukee made Los Angeles work in ways the Dodgers never matched.
Jake Bauers ran a third-inning plate appearance to 12 pitches before drawing a walk off Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Christian Yelich followed with an RBI single that ended Yamamoto’s night.
The Dodgers looked better at grinding through at-bats against Jacob Misiorowski in Game 1, but that edge disappeared fast. Once Milwaukee’s bullpen took over in Game 2, Los Angeles had no answer. If the Dodgers can’t do damage when the ball is in the strike zone, they’re going to make life easier for Brewers pitchers in Games 3 and 4.
And if the Dodgers keep coming up empty against Milwaukee’s relievers, Pat Murphy may not have much reason to hesitate with starter Robert Gasser in Game 3 if things go sideways early.
With fielding errors set aside, Games 1 and 2 have gone about as well as the Brewers could have asked. The Dodgers now head back to Los Angeles with a 2-0 series hole and Game 3 set for Wednesday.
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Bauers has also had reason to appreciate the timing of his recent on-field success, which has fit neatly into a Brewers season built on depth and resilience. With Milwaukee taking the opener against the Dodgers, his personal run and the teams push have started to feel intertwined, even if the bigger story still belongs to what comes next in a series that rarely leaves much room for reflection. [Read more 🡒]
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Brewers Seized NLCS Control And Pat Murphy Deserves Plenty Of Credit
The Brewers have put themselves in a commanding spot in the National League Championship Series, and Tuesdays 7-4 win over the Dodgers felt like the kind of night that can tilt a postseason. Milwaukee got a big all-around effort, with William Contreras helping drive the offense and the bullpen slamming the door over the final stretch, turning a one-run game into a two-game series edge.
Pat Murphys fingerprints were all over it, from the lineup choices to how the pitching was managed once the game tightened. With the Dodgers now chasing from behind, the Brewers can point to a performance that looked equal parts execution and planning, and theyre carrying a real sense that their manager has pushed the right buttons at the right time. [Read more 🡒]