The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Sunday night in Game 1 of the NLCS, a rematch of last year’s playoff series that Milwaukee lost in a sweep. Rookie Luis Lara delivered the decisive blow, stinging a first-pitch Tarik Skubal changeup up the middle to score Garrett Mitchell in the fifth inning.
The moment that decided the game
Mitchell drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a Cooper Pratt sacrifice bunt. Lara then came through with the hit. Milwaukee has scored in a variety of ways this postseason, but taking a fifth-inning lead on a manufactured run and holding it for the rest of the game captured the team’s path to the NLCS. It also showed that these Brewers are not the same team that the Dodgers swept last year.
Bullpen was the star
Milwaukee’s relief corps was the story after the starter left. DL Hall, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill combined to throw 4⅔ scoreless innings, repeatedly escaping jams. Ashby deserves special credit. He covered two innings and induced a pair of eighth-inning infield popups, one from Freddie Freeman and one from Shohei Ohtani. Uribe also struck out a batter to strand two runners and keep Milwaukee in front.
Defense bailed out Misiorowski
Jacob Misiorowski struggled early, but the Brewers’ defense kept the damage limited. Milwaukee turned 6-4-3 double plays to end both the first and second innings. After Misiorowski exited in the fifth, Hall got an inning-ending double play to stop another potential rally. Three double plays were the defining statistic of the night.
What it means for the Dodgers
Since the Dodgers began their championship run in 2024, this is only the second time they have lost the opening game of a playoff series. The other occurred in last year’s World Series. Los Angeles recovered then, beating the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. Yamamoto starts Game 2 on Monday at 5 p.m. ET, and the Dodgers now face a 2-0 deficit against a team that has proven it can compete with them.
Highlights from Game 1
Skubal recorded six strikeouts through the first three innings. Brice Turang tied the game for Milwaukee. Misiorowski reached 102 mph on the radar gun. Uribe’s strikeout kept the lead intact, and Lara’s hit gave the Brewers the win.