In a game the Brewers kept having to chase, Jake Bauers delivered one of the loudest quiet moments of the night.
Milwaukee’s 7-4 win over the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLCS rematch featured a lot of momentum swings, with the Brewers trailing at three different points. But the at-bat that may have mattered most came in the third inning, when Bauers stepped in with two runners aboard and one out, facing last year’s World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Bauers lasted 12 pitches and came away with a walk.
He took the first five pitches to get to a full count, then fouled off six straight Yamamoto offerings before finally watching a curveball miss low and outside for ball four. The sequence kept the inning alive for Christian Yelich, who followed with a go-ahead two-run RBI single. That hit ended Yamamoto’s night after just 75 pitches and 2.2 innings, and it forced Los Angeles to lean on seven relievers the rest of the way.
For the Brewers, that kind of grind is the point.
The club’s “drag him” approach has become a calling card this season, a phrase Sal Frelick was heard shouting from the top of the dugout on Opening Weekend. As described in Curt Hogg’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporting, it’s shorthand for what Milwaukee wants at the plate: force long counts, extend at-bats, and make pitchers pay for every out.
Bauers embodied it against Yamamoto. And it wasn’t the first time this year he’s won a marathon at the plate.
On August 22, he said he had just finished the best at-bat of his life, when he homered off Braves left-hander Martin Pérez on the 12th pitch of the third inning after seven straight foul balls. That one ended with a two-run, go-ahead shot to center.
This one ended with a walk. Different finish, same punishing work.
It also fits the bigger picture for Bauers, who finished with 94 walks, fifth-most in the National League. In the postseason, he’s kept it going, with six walks that rank second-most. It’s been the same story all year: grind, extend, wear down the pitcher, get on base.
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