Brewers Sweep Dodgers: First World Series in 44 Years
The brewers sweep dodgers into World Series history Thursday night, storming back from a 4-0 deficit to beat Los Angeles 6-4 in Game 4 at Dodger Stadium and complete a four-game sweep of the National League Championship Series. It is Milwaukee’s first World Series berth in 44 years, since 1982 when the club — then in the American League — lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
The result flipped last year’s NLCS script completely. Twelve months after the Dodgers swept Milwaukee out of the NLCS, the Brewers became the first club in baseball history to sweep the same opponent that swept them the previous postseason.
Rally From 4-0 Deficit
Game 4 looked lost early. Los Angeles struck for four runs in the second inning: Andy Pages drove in the first with an RBI single, and Shohei Ohtani followed with a towering three-run homer — his first blast since mid-August and his first postseason RBI. It was his only hit of the night in five at-bats with three strikeouts; he has been playing through knee and biceps discomfort that will be addressed in the offseason.
Milwaukee answered in the fourth when Jake Bauers ripped a two-run ground-rule double off Tyler Glasnow, who was charged with four runs over four and a third innings. In the fifth, David Hamilton singled in a run and Bauers drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 4-4. Garrett Mitchell then put the Brewers ahead with a go-ahead homer in the sixth off Tanner Scott, and Hamilton added insurance with a solo shot off Edwin Diaz in the ninth.
Catcher William Contreras guided the Brewers through a bullpen game, and four relievers held the Dodgers scoreless over the final seven innings. JoJo Romero worked two frames, and Aaron Ashby closed with three scoreless innings for his second save of the postseason — twice stranding the tying run at third.
Bauers Takes Home NLCS MVP
Bauers was named the NLCS Most Valuable Player after batting 4-for-14 with a homer and six RBIs in the series. His bases-loaded walk in Game 4’s fifth inning was the turning point of the clincher, capping a night on which the Brewers refused to fold despite falling behind by the same margin that had buried them in the first three games of the series.
The sweep ends the Dodgers’ run as two-time defending champions in humbling fashion: it was Los Angeles’ first sweep in a best-of-seven postseason series since the 1966 World Series against Baltimore.
A Date in Milwaukee on Oct 23
The Brewers will open the World Series at home on Oct. 23 against the winner of the American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Guardians and the Tampa Bay Rays. Cleveland took a 2-1 series lead with a 3-2 win Thursday, leaving Milwaukee — four wins from its first championship — to watch and wait.
*Source: ESPN*