Brewers’ Back-To-Back HRs Dent Dodgers’ Hopes: 3 Takeaways From NLCS Game 3

DODGER STADIUM (Los Angeles) — Milwaukee is on the verge of abolishing baseball’s Evil Empire. The Brewers are one win away from a trip to the World Series for the first time since 1982 after taking a 3-0 series lead over the Dodgers in the NLCS. The Dodgers, backed into the smallest of corners, now face an uphill battle against a well-rounded and red-hot Brewers team that has found its rhythm and is showing no signs of slowing down. The Brew Crew’s season-long combination of timely hitting, strong pitching, power from unexpected places, and a merciless energy has applied pressure on the defending-champion powerhouse, leaving the Dodgers with more questions than answers. Milwaukee, meanwhile, looks determined to finish the job this year after coming up short against Los Angeles in last year’s NLCS. Here are our takeaways from the Brewers’ 6-2 win over the Dodgers in Game 3: Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers did it again. Two days after an epic 12-pitch battle against Yoshinobu Yamamoto that resulted in a walk, Bauers applied the same irritating and relentless pressure to Dodgers southpaw Blake Snell in the seventh inning of Game 3, with Milwaukee trailing Los Angeles, 2-1. No matter what Snell threw at the plate, Bauers wasn’t biting. He fouled off five different pitches — really, Snell’s entire arsenal — in an 11-pitch battle that finally got the best of the left-hander. Snell’s 11th pitch of the at-bat was another meatball, nearly identical to the 97 mph fastball he threw over the heart of the zone to Jackson Chourio on his first pitch of the night. Bauers was all over it. He launched it to right field for a go-ahead, two-run home run that gave the Brewers a 3-2 lead. The entire Brewers dugout spilled onto the field in celebration of Bauers’ first home run of the postseason, knowing it was the advantage they were hunting for against Snell all night. But they weren’t done yet. Batting sixth in the order right after Bauers, Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell joined the home-run party with a solo shot to right field off Snell, padding Milwaukee’s lead to 4-2 in the seventh inning. Snell, who had not allowed a single home run across nine starts in the regular season this year, looked exasperated. Milwaukee knew it had Snell on the ropes. Even though Snell tried to get ahead of Milwaukee’s dogged style of play by watching some of the Brewers’ press conferences leading up to his Game 3 start, the extracurricular homework served no purpose between the lines. The Brewers’ back-to-back homers deflated Dodger Stadium, and perhaps even Los Angeles’ dreams of a three-peat. — Thosar Dodgers right-hander Blake Snell threw his first pitch in 10 days over the middle of the plate. It was a 97.6 mph meatball, begging to be crushed. Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio didn’t miss. The ball left Chourio’s bat at 106.1 mph and sailed toward the right-field seats, catching everyone off guard. Before fans even settled into their seats with their beverages and snacks, getting ready for a fun night at the ballpark, Chourio slugged his second home run of this postseason and gave the Brewers an instant 1-0 lead. On the road, in a hostile Dodger Stadium environment, the young Brewers star delivered exactly the kind of statement swing Milwaukee needed to keep the pressure on the Dodgers from the jump. It was a reminder that even elite postseason pitchers — Snell entered Game 3 with a 3.23 ERA in 19 career playoff games (16 starts) — cannot afford to make mistakes in the strike zone. Plus, this wasn’t Chourio’s first time. In Game 2 of last year’s NLCS against the Dodgers, Chourio jumped on the first pitch from right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto and sent it to deep right field for yet another ambush of a home run. Chourio now owns the most postseason RBI (18) before turning 23 years old. He achieved that mark in just 19 playoff games. Andruw Jones previously held that record with 17 RBI in 45 playoff games. The first-pitch homer completely changed the complexion of the game. The blast Snell gave up to Chourio was the first home run he allowed all season. Snell entered his Game 3 start with the reputation of overpowering hitters. Once he gets going, he’s typically in complete control. We saw that unfold after Chourio’s solo shot. When he got into a groove in the middle innings, Snell retired 14 batters in a row at one point. But once again, the Brewers were just better. — Thosar Before Game 3, Brewers manager Pat Murphy mentioned that he thought Dodgers catcher Will Smith had been swinging better than the statistics had shown. The numbers were not pretty. And Smith’s spot in the batting order reflected that. The scuffling Dodgers catcher began the postseason 1-for-23 with a single, a walk and eight strikeouts through his first six games. He was dropped from third in the lineup in Game 1 of the NLCS to fifth in Game 2 and then down to seventh in Game 3, right behind Shohei Ohtani, whose recent struggles also saw the designated hitter sliding down the order. “I know the numbers aren’t there,” Murphy said. “But if you do what I do, you watch the swing and you watch his approach, I think he’s looked good.” Before the Brewers’ seventh-inning onslaught, in what could have been the swing everyone remembered from Game 3, Smith backed up what his opposing manager saw. The Milwaukee bullpen was virtually unhittable all postseason, entering Wednesday night with a 0.31 ERA this October. But after five scoreless innings from starter Robert Gasser, Murphy’s first reliever of the night didn’t have it in Game 3. Abner Uribe walked Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker to start the sixth inning. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts then pinch-hit Max Muncy for Andy Pages, a surprising decision that reflected the urgency of the moment. The Dodgers entered the night just 2-for-26 with runners in scoring position this postseason. Each of those two hits belonged to Pages. But Uribe appeared to be on the ropes and needed to face the three-batter minimum, so Roberts turned to the platoon advantage with a chance to strike. Instead, Muncy struck out. But Ohtani followed with another walk to load the bases, and Smith finally came through with the hit that had eluded the Dodgers all series, electrifying the 50,708 fans in attendance with a go-ahead, two-run double. The glee, of course, was short-lived. Roberts sent pinch-hitter Josue De Paula to the plate for Miguel Rojas. Murphy countered with lefty DL Hall. Roberts then brought up another pinch-hitter, KIké Hernández, who struck out. Another strikeout followed from Tommy Edman, as the Dodgers’ struggles with runners in scoring position persisted. They failed to build their lead and had emptied their bench, save for backup catcher Hunter Feduccia, to try to go all in with their chance. One inning later, their lead was gone against a relentless Brewers lineup that has countered every punch all postseason. — Kavner