The Milwaukee Brewers are going back to the World Series for the first time in 44 years.
That sentence would have sounded impossible not long ago, but here they are: after their lone Fall Classic trip as an American League club in 1982, the Brewers are headed back in 2026 - this time as a National League team, and for the first time ever in that spot.
They punched the ticket by doing what this group has done all October: fighting back, hanging around, and then taking over late. Milwaukee completed a sweep of the two-time reigning World Champion Dodgers, answering Los Angeles’ sweep of them in last year’s NLCS with a statement series win of their own.
The night began with real trouble for Shane Drohan, making his first playoff start. He opened by retiring Shohei Ohtani, but then walked two in the first inning before escaping on a 6-4-3 double play.
The second inning didn’t go much better. Kyle Tucker singled, ending Drohan’s night after just one-plus innings, and Dustin May came in only to see the Dodgers keep the pressure on.
Teoscar Hernández singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out. After Max Muncy struck out, Andy Pages lined a single into the outfield to drive in the game’s first run. Enrique Hernández followed with a lineout, then Ohtani turned on his first homer of the postseason, and just like that Los Angeles had built a 4-0 lead through two innings.
Milwaukee didn’t stay down long.
Tyler Glasnow had been perfect through the first 10 batters he faced before the Brewers finally got to him in the fourth. Brice Turang drew a walk with one out, William Contreras followed with a ground-rule double, and Jake Bauers added another ground-rule double. In one burst, the deficit was sliced to 4-2.
The fifth inning brought the big swing-back moment. Cooper Pratt flied out to start it, but Sal Frelick walked, stole second, and scored on a David Hamilton single. After Evan Phillips replaced Glasnow and got Jackson Chourio to line out, Hamilton swiped another bag, then Turang and Contreras both walked to load the bases for Alex Vesia.
Bauers came through again, this time with a four-pitch walk that tied the game at 4-4.
Milwaukee’s bullpen then did its part. JoJo Romero entered for May in the bottom of the inning and struck out Ohtani and Freddie Freeman around a Mookie Betts groundout to keep the score deadlocked.
The tie didn’t last long. Leading off the sixth, Garrett Mitchell fell behind 0-2 against Tanner Scott, worked the count full, and then crushed a four-seamer to right-center for his second homer in as many nights. Suddenly Milwaukee had a 5-4 lead.
The Dodgers kept threatening after that, getting runners to third on doubles in the sixth, seventh, and eighth, but each time the Brewers found a way to keep the door shut.
Then came the insurance run. In the top of the ninth, Hamilton launched a homer to right-center, his first of the postseason after hitting only four in the regular season.
Aaron Ashby finished it off with authority. He threw a perfect ninth and completed another dominant stretch in the series, striking out three to lock up the sweep and Milwaukee’s first NL pennant in franchise history.
The Brewers did it with balance and timing, not fireworks. They had just five hits on the night, but they drew five walks and scored six straight after falling behind early. Romero and Ashby combined for five scoreless innings in relief, struck out six, allowed three hits - all doubles - and left those runners stranded at third.
Bauers was named NLCS MVP after going 4-for-14 in the four-game set with a homer, a double, three walks, and six RBIs. His long at-bats on Monday and Wednesday also shaped Games 2 and 3, even beyond the box score, including the 12-pitch and 11-pitch battles that helped flip both games.
Still, this wasn’t a one-man act. Ashby was sharp throughout the series with 6 2/3 scoreless innings across three outings, picking up two saves while allowing just two hits and a walk.
Contreras finished 5-for-14 with a homer, a double, and three RBIs. Mitchell delivered two huge homers.
Hamilton went 4-for-7 with a homer and three steals in only two games.
Now Milwaukee waits a week for its World Series opponent. It will be either the Tampa Bay Rays or the Cleveland Guardians, with Cleveland up 2-1 entering Friday’s Game 4. The Brewers will spend the days ahead preparing for the biggest stage they’ve reached in generations, as the 2026 NL champions get ready for one more series.
In Other News...
Brewers World Series Return Just Created A Rare Milwaukee Sports Moment
Major League Baseball has already started shaping the 2026 calendar around a Brewers team that has put Milwaukee in an unusual spotlight. With the World Series set to begin at the end of October, the league announced all seven games will start at 8 p.m. Eastern, and Milwaukee would have the first two games at home if the Brewers get there. The Cleveland Guardians or Tampa Bay Rays would host the middle portion depending on how the American League Championship Series plays out.
The ripple effect reached across town, where the Bucks adjusted their home opener to make room for a potential citywide overlap. Their game was moved from 7 p.m. Central to 3 p.m., a rare scheduling move that gives Milwaukee fans a chance to keep one eye on the court and another on a possible October baseball run. It is the kind of crossover moment that only comes around when a team is deep enough into a postseason chase to force everyone else in the city to plan around it. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers World Series Breakthrough Came With A Tribute Milwaukee Fans Felt
Bob Ueckers absence has lingered over Milwaukee all season, and with the Brewers heading to the World Series for the first time since 1982, the timing has given this run a deeper emotional charge. Uecker, who died in January 2025, was so tied to the franchise that every big moment has felt inseparable from his voice, his humor and the decades he spent turning Brewers baseball into something larger than the box score.
Jeff Levering understood the setting when the pennant was clinched, and his tribute during the moment landed the way only a Milwaukee call could. For fans, this is no longer just a chance to celebrate a breakthrough that has been more than four decades in the making. It is also a way to carry Ueckers legacy into October, with the citys most familiar baseball voice still echoing through its biggest stage. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Just Saw Why The Dodgers Face A Huge Skubal Decision
The Dodgers went all-in on Tarik Skubal before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, bringing in the left-hander to firm up a rotation they believed could carry them through October. For much of the stretch run, he looked like the kind of difference-maker they had in mind, and his presence only added to the sense that Los Angeles had done enough to chase another deep postseason run.
Then came the NLCS, where Milwaukee swept the Dodgers and turned the focus from what Skubal brought on the mound to what comes next around him. The uncertainty now is bigger than one October stumble, because the Dodgers still have to figure out how long they can actually keep him in the fold with the landscape around the sport potentially changing in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]