Brewers Beat Dodgers 6-2 in Game 3 to Lead NLCS 3-0

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, October 14. Milwaukee leads the series 3-0 and can finish it in Game 4 on Thursday.

Jackson Chourio opened the game with a home run on the first pitch from Dodgers starter Blake Snell. It was his sixth home run of this postseason, a club record, and it gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead that lasted into the sixth.

Rookie left hander Robert Gasser held that lead. He pitched five scoreless innings and allowed three hits in the biggest start of his young career.

Los Angeles takes the lead, briefly

The Dodgers broke through in the sixth. Reliever Abner Uribe walked three of the first four batters he faced and loaded the bases. Will Smith then doubled off the wall in left center to score two runs and put Los Angeles ahead 2-1. The hit ended a long slump for Smith, who had opened the postseason 1 for 25.

Milwaukee answered at once. Andrew Vaughn walked to open the seventh and was replaced by pinch runner Christian Yelich. Jake Bauers worked an 11 pitch at bat against Snell and drove the last pitch 412 feet to right field for a two run home run and a 3-2 lead. Two pitches later, Garrett Mitchell hit a 428 foot home run to right center. Snell's night was over.

Snell had retired 14 batters in a row before the seventh. He took the loss with four runs and four hits allowed in six plus innings, with nine strikeouts and two walks. All four runs he gave up came on home runs.

Milwaukee pulls away

Brice Turang scored on a wild pitch in the eighth to make it 5-2. Joey Ortiz added a run scoring single in the ninth for the final 6-2 margin. DL Hall pitched 2 and one third scoreless innings, and closer Trevor Megill got the last four outs for his fourth save of the postseason.

Shohei Ohtani batted sixth for Los Angeles, the lowest spot he has held in the order since joining the Dodgers. He went 1 for 2 with a walk and a hit by pitch. Los Angeles managed five hits in Game 3 after getting only three in Game 2, and the Dodgers have not hit a home run in the series.

One win from the World Series

Milwaukee is one win from the second World Series trip in club history. The Brewers' only other appearance came in 1982, when they played in the American League and lost to St. Louis in seven games.

The Dodgers won the last two World Series and are trying to become the first National League club to win three in a row. They now sit in a 3-0 hole. Los Angeles has trailed a best of seven postseason series 3-0 only once before, in the 1966 World Series, which Baltimore swept. The only team to win a best of seven series after trailing 3-0 is the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

The Dodgers swept Milwaukee in this round last year. A win on Thursday would make the Brewers the first club to sweep a postseason series against the opponent that swept them the year before, according to the Associated Press. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts kept his focus short after the loss: "We've got to win tomorrow."

Game 4 is Thursday, October 15, at Dodger Stadium.