LOS ANGELES: The Milwaukee Brewers are going to the World Series. It still feels surreal to type that sentence, even after watching it unfold in real time.
On Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, the Brewers completed a four-game sweep of the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers with a 6-4 comeback victory in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. For the first time since 1982, Milwaukee is headed to the Fall Classic.
I watched the Brewers fall behind 4-0 in the second inning after Shohei Ohtani launched a three-run homer that felt like a gut punch. The stadium was rocking. It looked like the Dodgers were going to force a Game 5. But these Brewers have been doing this all October. They chip away. They grind. And then they deliver the knockout blow.
Highlights
- Milwaukee wins NLCS 4-0, advances to first World Series since 1982
- Jake Bauers named NLCS MVP after team-high six RBIs
- Garrett Mitchell’s sixth-inning solo homer provided the go-ahead run
- Brewers rally from 4-0 deficit; Aaron Ashby earns three-inning save
- Milwaukee opens World Series at home on Oct. 23
William Contreras and Jake Bauers hit back-to-back ground-rule doubles in the fourth to cut the deficit to 4-2. An inning later, the Brewers tied it without swinging the bats much at all, with walks, a stolen base, and a bases-loaded free pass to Bauers that forced in the tying run.
Then came the moment. Garrett Mitchell, who had already homered in Game 3, fell behind 0-2 against reliever Tanner Scott. He worked the count full and then unloaded on a fastball, sending it 409 feet to center field. First lead of the night for Milwaukee. And the bullpen did the rest.
Aaron Ashby was magnificent. Three scoreless innings for the save, escaping jam after jam. When Jackson Chourio gloved the final out in left field, the Brewers poured onto the field in celebration.
Jake Bauers took home NLCS MVP honors. He hit .375 with six RBIs in the series, delivering one signature at-bat after another. The Brewers were the only current National League franchise that had never won a pennant. That changed Thursday night.
The Dodgers’ dream of a three-peat is dead. Milwaukee’s season marches on.
The World Series begins Friday, Oct. 23, at American Family Field in Milwaukee. The Brewers will face either the Cleveland Guardians or the Tampa Bay Rays. For a fanbase that has waited 44 years for this moment, that home game cannot come soon enough.
This team believes. And now, they have a chance to bring Milwaukee its first World Series championship.
