LOS ANGELES – The Milwaukee Brewers lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Friday night, their season swept away by the defending World Series champions.
The backstory:
After winning a franchise-record 97 games in the regular season, the Brewers clinched the top seed throughout the MLB postseason. They knocked off the rival Chicago Cubs in the National League Division Series to advance to the NLCS, where they lost four straight games.
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Scoring summary
By the numbers:
1st Inning: Dodgers 3, Brewers 0
- Dodgers 1, Brewers 0: Shohei Ohtani solo home run to right
- Dodgers 2, Brewers 0: Tommy Edman single to center, Mookie Betts scores
- Dodgers 3, Brewers 0: Teoscar Hernandez groundout to first, Will Smith scores
4th Inning: Dodgers 4, Brewers 0
- Dodgers 4, Brewers 0: Ohtani solo home run to center
7th Inning: Dodgers 5, Brewers 0
- Dodgers 5, Brewers 0: Ohtani solo home run to center
8th Inning: Dodgers 5, Brewers 1
- Dodgers 5, Brewers 1: Brice Turang grounds into force out, Caleb Durbin scores
Shohei Ohtani looks on after hitting a home run in the fourth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Dig deeper:
Shohei Ohtani has propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers back to the World Series with a two-way performance for the ages, hitting three mammoth home runs and pitched two-hit ball into the seventh inning.
After striking out three in the top of the first, Ohtani hit the first leadoff homer by a pitcher in major league history off Brewers starter José Quintana.
The Dodgers added two more runs in the first after Ohtani’s tone-setting homer, with Mookie Betts and Will Smith both singling and scoring.
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Jackson Chourio doubled leading off the fourth for Milwaukee’s first hit, but Ohtani stranded him with a groundout and two strikeouts.
Ohtani followed with a 469-foot blast in the bottom of the fourth inning, clearing the left-field pavilion above the bleachers in left field.
After the Brewers’ first two batters reached in the seventh, Ohtani left the mound to a stadium-shaking ovation. He fanned 10 for his first double-digit strikeout game in a Dodgers uniform.
Brewers players look on from the dugout during the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLCS. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
And after Alex Vesia escaped the jam, Ohtani celebrated by hitting his third homer in the bottom half – becoming the 12th player in major league history to hit three homers in a playoff game. His three homers traveled a combined 1,342 feet.
Struggling Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen allowed two more baserunners in the eighth, and Caleb Durbin scored when Brice Turang beat out his potential double-play grounder before Anthony Banda ended the inning.
Roki Sasaki pitched the ninth.
Big picture view:
The Dodgers will have a chance to be baseball’s first repeat World Series champions in a quarter-century after this mind-blowing night for the three-time MVP Ohtani, who emphatically ended a quiet postseason by his lofty standards.
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The powerhouse Dodgers are the first team to win back-to-back pennants since Philadelphia in 2009. Los Angeles is back in the World Series for the fifth time in nine seasons, and it will attempt to become baseball’s first repeat champs since the New York Yankees won three straight World Series from 1998 to 2000.
The Dodgers had never swept an NLCS in 16 previous appearances, but they became only the fifth team to sweep this series while thoroughly dominating a 97-win Milwaukee club. Los Angeles is the first team to sweep a best-of-seven postseason series since 2022, and the first to sweep an NLCS since Washington in 2019.
The NL Central champion Brewers were eliminated by the Dodgers for the third time during their current stretch of seven playoff appearances in eight years. Even after setting a franchise record with 97 wins this season, Milwaukee is still waiting for its first World Series appearance since 1982.
The Brewers had never been swept in a playoff series longer than a best-of-three, but their bats fell silent in the NLCS against the Dodgers’ brilliant starting rotation. Los Angeles’ four starters combined to pitch 28 2/3 innings with two earned runs allowed and 35 strikeouts.
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The Source: FOX6 News referenced information from the Brewers, MLB and FOX Sports. The Associated Press contributed.
