The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 in Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday at American Family Field.
The sharpest detail is where the game was actually won, in the bullpen, with four Milwaukee relievers combining for 4 2/3 scoreless innings to protect a one run lead.
A Lead Taken Back In Two Innings
Los Angeles scored first. Andy Pages gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the second inning with an RBI single that scored Shohei Ohtani, and with Tarik Skubal on the mound, Milwaukee had to work for its reply. Brice Turang provided it in the fourth, tying the game with a solo home run off Skubal.
The go ahead run came one inning later, and it came from a rookie. Luis Lara drove in Garrett Mitchell with a single in the fifth, putting Milwaukee ahead 2-1 against the two time defending champions. Skubal struck out seven in five innings and took the loss, a strong start by most measures, but Turang’s homer and Lara’s single were enough to beat it on a night when Milwaukee’s pitching allowed almost nothing after the second inning.
Four Relievers, Four Scoreless Turns
Jacob Misiorowski started and allowed one run in 4 1/3 innings. From there, DL Hall, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Megill earned the save despite walking two batters in the ninth, closing a game that stayed uncomfortable until the final out. Los Angeles left nine men on base, which is the other side of the same story: the Dodgers had chances, and Milwaukee’s relievers kept refusing them.
Misiorowski credited that group directly after the game:
“It’s everything we can ask for. Those guys are grinding out there. Every day being able to put up zeros, that’s the game.” Jacob Misiorowski on the Brewers bullpen, via Sport Relay
The Dodgers know this feeling from the other side, as their own run through the previous round showed in Yamamoto Dominates Braves, Dodgers Take Lead. The American League picture was set a day earlier in Guardians Blank White Sox To Complete Comeback, and on Sunday night Milwaukee made the National League opener just as tight.
By The Numbers
- Final score: Milwaukee Brewers 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 1, NLCS Game 1 at American Family Field on Oct. 11
- Andy Pages drove in Shohei Ohtani with an RBI single in the second inning
- Brice Turang tied the game with a solo home run in the fourth off Tarik Skubal
- Rookie Luis Lara drove in Garrett Mitchell with the go ahead single in the fifth
- Jacob Misiorowski allowed one run in 4 1/3 innings; four relievers added 4 2/3 scoreless innings
- Skubal struck out seven in five innings; Los Angeles left nine men on base
One run games in a championship series tend to expose how a team feels about its own bullpen, and Milwaukee’s choices said plenty. The Brewers did not stretch Misiorowski deep into the game after his 4 1/3 innings. They turned the ball over early, used four different relievers, and accepted the risk of a short start because the scoreless innings behind it were the plan, not a rescue. Megill’s ninth inning showed the tension inside that plan: two walks put the tying run within reach for Los Angeles, and the save still held. A bullpen that can survive its own messiest inning, in Game 1, against the defending champions, gives a manager options for the rest of the series.
Revenge Starts With Game One
Context gives this 2-1 win its weight. Milwaukee takes a 1-0 series lead a year after being swept by Los Angeles in the NLCS. A sweep leaves a mark on a club and on a fan base, and the cleanest answer to it is exactly what Milwaukee produced on Sunday: beat the same opponent, at home, in the first game, with pitching that never gave the series favourites a comfortable inning after the second.
One game does not settle a championship series, and Milwaukee knows the Dodgers have come back in series before. But the terms have changed from last October. The Brewers lead, the Dodgers are chasing, and Milwaukee’s bullpen, Hall, Uribe, Ashby and Megill behind Misiorowski, has already shown it can hold a one run lead under ninth inning pressure. For a team that was swept in this round a year ago, Game 1 was not just a win. It was proof that this series will be played on different terms.
