The two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers are down 3-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series, and only one MLB team has ever rallied from such a deficit to win a postseason series. The comparison point is the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who mounted a historic ALCS comeback against the New York Yankees, aided by a timely steal from Dave Roberts, who now manages the Dodgers.
ESPN MLB experts Bradford Doolittle, Alden Gonzalez and David Schoenfield are skeptical. Doolittle says he cannot see the Dodgers returning to Milwaukee, arguing that the Brewers, the best team in baseball during the regular season and in the playoffs, will not look past Game 4. Schoenfield adds that the Brewers are young, athletic and fast, while the Dodgers look old and may lack the fight of a team still chasing its first title.
The result has surprised many observers. Most ESPN writers picked the Brewers to win the series, 13 of 15, but expected a longer contest given the strength of the Dodgers' rotation and Yoshinobu Yamamoto's recent postseason success. Gonzalez notes that Los Angeles had four aces ready in Tarik Skubal, Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, which he felt could tip the odds in their favor.
The biggest problem for the Dodgers has been their offense. Gonzalez points out that they are batting just .146 with men on base in this series, 147 points lower than the Brewers, and have produced a .572 OPS in every playoff situation, ranking 240th among 246 teams with at least seven postseason games. Doolittle suggests the Brewers are the main reason the series has gone this way.
Source: ESPN MLB · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing