Milwaukee did not need much offense to change the feel of this National League Championship Series. One run in the fifth inning, three double plays, and a bullpen that refused to give an inch carried the Brewers to a 2-1 Game 1 win over the Dodgers on Sunday night at American Family Field.
That alone is a different opening chapter from last year, when Milwaukee scored exactly one run in each game of a four-game NLCS sweep by Los Angeles. This time, the Brewers beat the two-time defending champions at their preferred pace: patient enough to create an opportunity, sharp enough to protect it, and comfortable letting the pitchers and gloves do the rest.
Tarik Skubal had the Dodgers in control early, but the Brewers found the deciding sequence in the fifth. Garrett Mitchell opened the inning by drawing a walk, Cooper Pratt moved him along with a sacrifice bunt, and rookie Luis Lara lined a single through the middle to bring Mitchell home. It was a modest rally, but it gave Milwaukee a 2-1 lead it never surrendered.
Jacob Misiorowski again fell short of a deep postseason start, leaving with one out in the fifth, but the Brewers were ready for that moment. DL Hall entered and induced an inning-ending double play. Abner Uribe followed with a clean sixth, Aaron Ashby worked two hitless frames, and Trevor Megill navigated two walks in the ninth before retiring Mookie Betts on a fly ball to finish the night.
The four relievers combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Milwaukee also turned three double plays, the kind of clean defensive work that can make a one-run lead feel much larger in October.
Misiorowski survives, bullpen takes over
Misiorowski allowed only one run against a dangerous Los Angeles lineup, but the Brewers will want more length from their ace as the series develops. He completed 4 1/3 innings after lasting four innings in his Game 1 start against the Padres in the Division Series.
The issue has been getting hitters to miss his four-seam fastball. In the NLDS opener, opponents produced a 13.8% whiff rate against that pitch, his lowest mark in any outing this season. Against the Dodgers in the NLCS opener, the rate rose only to 18.5%, still his second-lowest result of the year.
There is no mystery about why Misiorowski trusts a triple-digit fastball, but the reduced swing-and-miss has pushed his pitch count higher and shortened both postseason assignments. The Dodgers did not punish him, though they made him work, and Milwaukee may need him to show a broader mix if he takes the mound again in this series.
Los Angeles had chances all night and could not turn them into the one swing it needed. The Dodgers went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left nine men aboard. They loaded the bases with one out in the second after already scoring their lone run, only for Kiké Hernández to bounce into an inning-ending double play.
The Dodgers also put a leadoff runner aboard in both the third and fourth innings without scoring. In the sixth, Andy Pages struck out with runners at first and third to end another threat. Los Angeles was retired in order only once, in the seventh, but traffic never became a breakthrough.
Its final chance came in the ninth. Kyle Tucker and Josue De Paula drew two-out walks against Megill, bringing Betts to the plate with the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at first. Betts lifted the final out, and Milwaukee had the opener.
The Dodgers have been wrestling with this problem for more than one game. They went 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position during the Division Series against Atlanta, relying on home runs to get through that round. Milwaukee kept the ball in the yard in Game 1 and forced Los Angeles to answer with situational hitting it has not consistently supplied.
Shohei Ohtani remains the player most capable of changing that equation in a hurry. He dominated Milwaukee in last year’s Game 4, going 3-for-3 with three homers while also striking out 10 over six scoreless innings. He will not pitch in this NLCS because of lingering injuries, and his offensive production has not yet arrived this postseason.
Ohtani reached twice Sunday, taking a four-pitch walk and dropping in a flare single, but he has no extra-base hit through five playoff games. He has not homered since Aug. 18 and has driven in one run over 23 games since then, batting .163 with a .503 OPS in that stretch. The Brewers have seen what he can do when he gets hot; for now, the Dodgers are still waiting for that version of him.
Game 2 is scheduled for Monday at 5 p.m. ET, 4 p.m. CT and 2 p.m. PT, with coverage on FOX, FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One. Milwaukee will try to take a 2-0 series lead with the same formula that carried Game 1: create one opening, make every play behind the pitchers, and hand the late innings to a bullpen built for October.
