The Milwaukee Brewers opened the National League Championship Series with a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night, taking Game 1 in a tense pitching matchup at home.
Milwaukee, which holds the best regular-season record in baseball, is looking to avoid a repeat of last year’s NLCS, when the Dodgers swept the Brewers on their way to a championship.
Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski started and pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing five hits, one run and three walks while striking out five across 94 pitches, 60 of them strikes.
Los Angeles got on the board first in the second inning when Andy Pages drove in Shohei Ohtani with an RBI single to right field. Ohtani, who has struggled at the plate in this year’s postseason, did not factor further into the scoring.
Milwaukee answered in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run from Brice Turang. The Brewers then took the lead for good in the fifth inning when 21-year-old Luis Lara, inserted into the lineup in a key spot, delivered an RBI single to score Garrett Mitchell.
Dodgers starter Tarik Skubal, making his NLCS debut for Los Angeles, lasted five innings and threw 81 pitches, giving up five hits and two runs with seven strikeouts. Manager Dave Roberts turned to his bullpen earlier than planned after Skubal’s outing.
Los Angeles will hand the ball to Yoshinobu Yamamoto for Game 2, though the Dodgers have historically produced less offense when Yamamoto takes the mound.
The loss exposed a familiar weakness for a Dodgers lineup that entered the series as the favorite: an inability to cash in on scoring chances. Los Angeles went just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight runners on base, finishing the night with nine men left on overall.
Milwaukee closer Trevor Megill nearly let the lead slip in the ninth, walking Kyle Tucker and pinch-hitter Josue De Paula with two outs to put the tying run in scoring position. But Megill retired Mookie Betts on a flyout to end the game and secure the win.
History favors teams that win Game 1 of a League Championship Series, which have gone on to advance 65.6% of the time. Home teams that take Game 1 have won the series 67.3% of the time.
Add comment