The best-laid plans went awry early in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, the sleepiest and final game of the Dodgers football season. In a game with four lead changes and two shutouts, the Dodgers’ big hit couldn’t save their lives, as William Contreras had three different scoring hits in the Brewers’ 7-4 win at American Family Field on Monday afternoon in Milwaukee.
The Dodgers go home to Los Angeles two games to none, having missed the longest series since the 2023 NLDS.
Advertisement
Chaos begins
It took until the 23rd half-inning streak of one of these teams to score on the boards more than once, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. Both Jacob Misiorowski and Tarik Skubal worked big innings in the Game, but limited the loss to one hit.
After both teams scored a run in the first inning, Yoshinobu Yamamoto homered. David Hamilton had a hit and stole second base. Brice Turang, who battled back from an 0-2 count and called an unquestionable potential third-ball hitter for a double in the first inning, worked his way back from an 0-2 count to walk again in the third.
With two outs and two on, first baseman Jake Bauers threw a full six innings before earning a walk to load the bases.
Advertisement
“Yamamoto – such a great pitch mix,” Bauers said in a media briefing before the game. “There’s a lot that you can try and do with it, and I think you can fall into the trap of trying to throw it away.”
It took Yamamoto just two pitches to hook a curveball to Christian Yelich — easily the worst of his 14 major league hits — who went home for two to turn the Dodgers into a deficit. Yamamoto’s day also ended, after needing 75 pitches to get just eight hits, the shortest of his 11 postseason starts with the Dodgers.
The twelve hits to Bauers were the most in any plate of a single appearance in Yamamoto’s three years in the majors, a total fight of seven minutes, 15 seconds, broadcast by Fox.
Only the Dodgers scored
Brewers starter Logan Henderson allowed just three hits, one of which was a booted ball by shortstop Cooper Pratt. Henderson also walked two, but three errant shots proved his undoing. A wild pitch in the first inning put Mookie Betts on third base directly before scoring on a sacrifice fly.
Advertisement
In the third inning with runners on the corners, Henderson threw out a wild attempt by Betts at first base, allowing Tommy Edman to score from third base. After Kyle Tucker doubled to lead off the fifth inning, Henderson had another groundout error when Edman attempted to sacrifice fly, not only scoring Tucker but putting Edman on second base. He later flew into another sacrifice bunt, a play so close at the plate that it required a replay review to confirm.
Getting big hits or not
Contreras, the Brewers’ three-time All-Star catcher, hit a home run off Yamamoto in the first inning to tie the game, homered off left-hander Kris Bubic in the fifth inning to tie the game, then homered off Brock Stewart in the sixth to give the Brewers the lead.
It was the third multi-hit game in these playoffs for Contreras, who hit three home runs this October.
Advertisement
The Dodgers’ three-time All-Star catcher, Will Smith, dropped to fifth in the batting order on Monday and was hit hard in four at-bats. Smith has just one hit in 23 at-bats this season with eight strikeouts.
“Of course we would like the results to be a little better, but at the end of the day it is” [six] plate games,” Smith told reporters in Milwaukee on Monday before Game 2. “No one panicked from me. That will be the end.”
Smith is not alone in his struggles at the plate.
Shohei Ohtani, still batting fourth, had two hits in four at-bats in Game 2 and has three hits in 19 at-bats, plus three walks this season.
Advertisement
The Brewers tacked on insurance runs from Edgardo Henriquez and Justin Wrobleski with three singles and a walk in the eighth inning. The Brewers, who are 7-4, are leading either team by more than one in this series.
Game 2 of the NLCS was just the second of 27 games this season in which both teams scored at least four runs.
Against the Dodgers, Henderson was boring in all four at-bats with runners in scoring position, dropping them to 2-for-26 with runners in scoring position this season. But when he left with no outs in the fifth inning, the Brewers bullpen completely shut things down the rest of the way.
Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe, and Aaron Ashby turned 15 and all retired. Ashby pitched in multiple innings for the second straight day, this time earning nothing.
Advertisement
The Dodgers are now headed to a bigger lineup once they return home.
NLCS Game 2 details
home run: William Contreras (3)
WP – JoJo Romero (1-1): 1 IP 2 strikeouts
LP – Brock Stewart (0-1): 2/3 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Sv – Aaron Ashby (1): 1 2/3 IP, 2 strikeouts
In the near future
The NLCS moves to Los Angeles starting with Game 3 on Wednesday evening (5 p.m.). Blake Snell is probably starting for the Dodgers, though Dave Roberts wouldn’t confirm his plans until Monday. Left-hander Robert Gasser starts on the mound for Brewer.