The Milwaukee Brewers dissected the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, stunning the greatest postseason pitcher of this generation as Milwaukee answered every Los Angeles run with one of its own. The bullpen shut down whatever hope the Dodgers had left, and the 7-4 victory gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers, who have spent the past three years tormenting every team that stepped to them and won two championships in the process, now head back to Los Angeles with their season on life support.
For anyone who has followed Milwaukee, the result was not a huge surprise. The Brewers have been among the game's best teams for upward of a decade, and this year something feels different inside the clubhouse and throughout the organization. In front of a hot crowd of 42,516 at American Family Field, the club is starved for its first World Series title in 58 years of existence. "Quite frankly, I think we're just tired of losing in the playoffs," said right-hander Brandon Woodruff, the longest-tenured Brewer.
That shift traces back to manager Pat Murphy, who took charge in November 2023 after Craig Counsell left for the rival Chicago Cubs. His simple mantra, "Win tonight," has been embraced by the players. Murphy is willing to bench players for lack of effort or mental mistakes, and his team plays a clean, fundamentally sound style of baseball. Milwaukee won a major-league-best 103 games this season, yet entered the series as underdogs despite holding home-field advantage.
Infielder David Hamilton, who scored three runs in Game 2, summed up the approach: "It kind of feels like college baseball. Bunt 'em over, move 'em, sac fly, get 'em in." The Brewers are content winning in their own style.
Source: ESPN MLB · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing