The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Sunday night in the opener of the NLCS, a rematch a year in the making. Rookie Luis Lara delivered the decisive blow, stinging a first-pitch changeup from Tarik Skubal up the middle in the fifth inning to score Garrett Mitchell. Mitchell had drawn a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a Cooper Pratt sacrifice bunt.
The takeaway: Milwaukee is not the team that was swept last year
The Brewers can score in a variety of ways, but taking a fifth-inning lead on a manufactured run and holding it for the rest of the game captured their path to the NLCS. It also served as an early sign that these are not the same Brewers who were swept by the Dodgers in 2025.
Star of the game: the Milwaukee bullpen
The bullpen was the difference. DL Hall, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill combined for 4⅔ scoreless innings and repeatedly escaped jams with composure. Ashby deserves special credit. He covered two innings and induced a pair of eighth-inning infield popups, from Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani. Uribe also struck out a batter to strand two runners and keep the lead intact.
The stat that defined the game: three double plays
Jacob Misiorowski struggled early, but the Brewers’ defense bailed him out. Milwaukee turned 6-4-3 double plays to end both the first and second innings. When Misiorowski exited in the fifth, Hall got an inning-ending double play to stop another potential rally. Misiorowski’s velocity was still on display, as he threw a 102 mph pitch during the game.
What it means for the Dodgers
This is only the second time since the Dodgers’ championship run began in 2024 that they have lost the opening game of a playoff series. The first came in last year’s World Series. Los Angeles recovered then, beating the Blue Jays in Game 2 with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. Yamamoto will start Game 2 on Monday at 5 p.m. ET. Falling into a 0-2 series hole against a team as strong as the Brewers could create serious problems for the defending champions.
Highlights from Milwaukee’s win
Skubal recorded six strikeouts through the first three innings, but the Brewers answered with timely hitting and a bullpen that did not blink. The Brewers were three outs from the win in the ninth, and the Dodgers now have to respond quickly in a series that is only getting started.