Milwaukee came to Dodger Stadium one win from a pennant and found an unfamiliar way to get there: by beating Los Angeles with the long ball. Jackson Chourio, Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell homered in a 6-2 Game 3 victory Wednesday night, pushing the Brewers to a 3-0 National League Championship Series lead over the two-time defending champions.
The Brewers, who were swept by the Dodgers in last season’s NLCS, can close the series Thursday in Game 4. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CT and 5 p.m. PT on FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One.
A rare power display changes the night
Milwaukee won an MLB-best 103 games during the regular season by putting pressure on opponents in a variety of ways, but home-run barrages were rarely part of the formula. The Brewers hit 154 homers, more than only Toronto’s 152 among Major League clubs, and recorded just 10 games with at least three home runs.
They picked an ideal night for their third swing of the power bat.
Chourio opened the game by drilling Blake Snell’s first pitch over the fence. Snell settled in after that, keeping Milwaukee quiet until the seventh inning, when Bauers and Mitchell delivered consecutive home runs to put the Brewers ahead for good.
All three shots came against Snell, who had gone 46 1/3 innings this year, postseason included, without surrendering a home run. For Milwaukee, it was another indication that this October matchup bears little resemblance to last year’s Dodgers sweep.
Los Angeles needs its lineup to wake up
The Dodgers will send Tyler Glasnow to the mound with their season on the line in Game 4. His only outing this postseason came against Atlanta in Game 4 of the NLDS, when he allowed one run over 4 2/3 innings but issued five walks.
Glasnow has handled elimination-game assignments before, with uneven results. He was knocked out after 2 2/3 innings in a 2019 ALDS Game 5 loss to Houston, then threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees in the 2020 ALDS. His strongest such start came in the 2022 Wild Card Series against Cleveland, when he worked five scoreless frames in a 15-inning, 1-0 defeat.
“I expect him to throw well,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s rested, he has tremendous arm talent, and he has postseason experience.”
Even a strong Glasnow start may not be enough unless Los Angeles finds more production at the plate. The Dodgers averaged 5.1 runs per game across the previous two postseasons but are scoring only 3.0 runs per game this October.
| Dodgers hitter | 2026 postseason production |
|---|---|
| Shohei Ohtani | .515 OPS |
| Freddie Freeman | .664 OPS |
| Mookie Betts | .586 OPS |
| Teoscar Hernández | .522 OPS |
| Will Smith | 2-for-27 (.074) |
| Kyle Tucker | .304 batting average, .885 OPS |
Hernández homered in Los Angeles’ postseason opener against Atlanta but has done little since. Smith supplied a two-out, two-run double against Milwaukee on Wednesday, though his overall October line remains thin. Tucker, who endured a difficult regular season, has been the club’s most productive everyday hitter in the playoffs.
Brewers bullpen faces another heavy assignment
Milwaukee’s relief group has carried a demanding workload through seven postseason games, and Game 3 showed both its durability and its strain. Abner Uribe appeared for the seventh straight game but could not find the strike zone, recording one out while loading the bases on walks before Smith’s double gave the Dodgers a two-run lead in the sixth.
“It’s not normal for Abner to miss the zone, but he had been excellent in seven consecutive playoff games,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We have faith in him. His command just wasn’t there tonight.”
Trevor Megill supplied the stabilizing finish. Working for the fifth time this postseason, the closer recorded four outs and struck out two, his second appearance of more than one inning this October.
Milwaukee had not announced a Game 4 starter, making its bullpen likely to remain central to the plan. If the Dodgers extend the series, the Brewers would expect Jacob Misiorowski to start Game 5, with Uribe, Megill and the rest of the relief corps again looming behind him. Ending the series Thursday would offer a valuable reset before a possible World Series.
Roberts knows a 3-0 hole can be escaped
Los Angeles has a daunting task, but Roberts has lived through the only previous comeback from a 3-0 deficit in postseason history. As a Red Sox pinch-runner in the 2004 ALCS, Roberts stole second against Yankees closer Mariano Rivera in Game 4, then scored the tying run on Bill Mueller’s single. Boston won that game in 12 innings, captured the series in seven games and completed one of baseball’s defining October rallies.
“It’s absolutely possible,” Roberts said. “I’ve been through it.”
Roberts did not take a plate appearance during that 2004 postseason, a reminder for a Dodgers club searching for life that its next spark does not necessarily have to come from one of its biggest names. Still, with the season hanging on Thursday night, Los Angeles needs its stars—and its offense—to finally arrive.
