The Dodgers will bring a 2-0 National League Championship Series deficit back to Los Angeles after Milwaukee’s 7-4 Game 2 win Monday night at American Family Field, a loss that exposed an offense still waiting for a clean, sustained inning. Los Angeles scored four times without recording an RBI hit, while the Brewers’ bullpen retired every hitter it faced after starter Logan Henderson exited.
Key takeaways
- The Brewers hold a 2-0 NLCS lead with Game 3 set for Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
- Los Angeles went hitless with runners in scoring position for the fourth time in six postseason games.
- Andy Pages is 2-for-3 in scoring-position chances this October; every other Dodger is 0-for-23.
- Milwaukee relievers combined for 15 straight outs, a postseason record for perfect bullpen innings in one game.
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto lasted 2 2/3 innings and 75 pitches, and the Dodgers could not deliver a shutdown frame after taking leads.
A lineup searching for the big hit
The Dodgers did capitalize when Milwaukee made mistakes. Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman supplied sacrifice flies, and Henderson’s two throwing errors helped produce the rest of the scoring. But there was no line drive through a gap with a runner at second, no two-out hit to turn pressure into a crooked number.
That has been the theme of a choppy postseason offense. Shohei Ohtani is 3-for-20, Will Smith is 1-for-23, and Pages remains the only Los Angeles hitter to collect a hit with runners in scoring position. The club has now played six postseason games, and four of them have ended with a zero in that category.
“We managed only three hits,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Part of it was their starter, part was their relief corps. I can’t explain it. They have quality arms, and we do as well. They’re just winning more pitches than we are.”
Los Angeles left just two men aboard, its smallest total of the postseason, but that reflected a shortage of traffic rather than efficient offense. The Dodgers had six baserunners all night and did not put another man on after Henderson departed. Milwaukee used four relievers to finish the game with 15 consecutive retired hitters, the most flawless innings ever recorded by a postseason bullpen in one game.
Mookie Betts credited Milwaukee for the way it has controlled the series but said the solution remains straightforward. “They’re a strong club with good pitchers,” Betts said. “They’re hitting, they’re playing well, and we have to show up ready. There isn’t a secret formula. We need to find those hits.”
Home field, and a narrow road back
The Dodgers are down 0-2 in a postseason matchup for the first time since the 2023 NLDS, their most recent October series loss. The two-time defending champions now return home needing a quick response to preserve their chase for a third straight title.
History leaves little room for comfort. Teams that seize a 2-0 advantage in a best-of-seven postseason series have finished the job 79 times in 95 tries, an 83 percent rate. Under the current 2-3-2 setup, clubs that won the first two games at home have advanced 46 times in 57 series, or 81 percent.
There have been 16 comebacks from an 0-2 hole in a best-of-seven set. Two came recently: Arizona rallied past Philadelphia in the 2023 NLCS, and Toronto recovered against Seattle in the 2025 ALCS.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy is not looking beyond the next stop. “My attention is only on the next game,” he said.
For the Dodgers, Game 3 arrives Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. local time and 5 p.m. PT. They have escaped season-threatening moments during their championship runs, including the 2024 NLDS and the 2025 World Series. Hernández believes that experience still matters, even with Milwaukee holding the upper hand.
“I don’t have any doubt,” Hernández said. “I know what I can do, and I know what this team can do. Dropping two games does not mean it’s finished.”
But the margin has changed. The Dodgers are two losses from elimination, and their bats need to become more than opportunists on opponent errors. Back at Dodger Stadium, they need to create innings of their own.
