Brewers Beat Dodgers 7-4 for 2-0 NLCS Lead

MILWAUKEE – William Contreras gave Milwaukee the lead, and its bullpen gave Los Angeles no way back. Contreras singled home the decisive run in the sixth inning Monday as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Dodgers 7-4 at American Family Field, taking a 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series.

The catcher finished 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk and three runs batted in. Behind him, Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby retired the final 15 Dodgers hitters in order. According to MLB’s Game 2 report, their five perfect innings were the most by a bullpen in a postseason game.

Milwaukee is two wins from its first World Series appearance since 1982, when the franchise played in the American League. The best-of-seven series moves to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday, October 14. The two-time defending champions must now recover from losses in both Milwaukee games.

Contreras supplied the answer each time the game demanded one. He drove in Brice Turang with a first-inning single, launched a 436-foot homer off Kris Bubic to tie the score 4-4 in the fifth, then put Milwaukee ahead for good in the sixth.

That last opportunity began with David Hamilton being hit by a Brock Stewart pitch. Stewart’s subsequent pickoff throw escaped Freddie Freeman’s glove, allowing Hamilton to reach second. After Jackson Chourio grounded out, Stewart walked Turang. Contreras followed with a single to left that brought Hamilton home.

Contreras told the Associated Press, in a report carried by CBS Sports, that the decision to walk Turang served as motivation. He said through an interpreter: “I wanted to put the ball in play. I knew it was a big run there.”

Milwaukee’s relief pitching then made a one-run advantage stand up until Turang and Jake Bauers added RBI singles in the eighth. Ashby finished with a five-out save. The bullpen has allowed only one earned run over 28 2/3 innings this postseason, continuing the strength that carried Milwaukee through its NLCS Game 1 victory.

The Dodgers had led three times, but an anticipated pitching duel never developed. Yoshinobu Yamamoto lasted 2 2/3 innings, his shortest postseason start. Bauers worked a 12-pitch walk to load the bases in the third before Christian Yelich singled home two runs, sending Yamamoto out with Milwaukee ahead 3-2.

Brewers rookie Logan Henderson also struggled to keep the game under control. He allowed four runs, two earned, over four-plus innings. Two throwing errors helped Los Angeles score, including an errant throw on Tommy Edman’s fifth-inning bunt. Freeman’s sacrifice fly then put the Dodgers ahead 4-3, before Contreras answered again.

The Los Angeles Dodgers finished with three hits and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Their postseason total in those situations fell to 2-for-26. Getting runners aboard mattered little once Milwaukee’s relievers stopped allowing anyone to reach base.

The shift to Los Angeles offers another chance, not a reset. MLB lists Game 3 for 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday. Robert Gasser is expected to start for Milwaukee, with Blake Snell the likely Dodgers starter, according to the AP report.

Milwaukee was swept by Los Angeles in last year’s NLCS. This time it has won the opening two games, though Yelich cautioned against treating the lead as the finish. He told MLB: “We haven’t accomplished anything yet. It was a good start. But still a long way to go.”