Contreras powers Brewers to 2-0 NLCS lead, vows Milwaukee will 'keep going' — SkimNews
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- William Contreras tied Game 2 with a fifth-inning homer to center and put Milwaukee ahead for good with a sixth-inning RBI single, after which four Brewers relievers retired all 15 Dodgers batters they faced in a 7-4 win.
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw a complete game against the Brewers in last year's NLCS, was pulled in the third inning after the Brewers averaged 5.3 pitches per plate appearance against him and Jake Bauers worked a 12-pitch walk that preceded his exit.
- Brewers relievers — Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, JoJo Romero and Dustin May — combined for five perfect relief innings, a feat ESPN Research confirmed had never been done in playoff history, extending a postseason bullpen line of one earned run in 28⅔ innings (0.31 ERA).
- Manager Pat Murphy dismissed the 'Brewers Ball' label before the game, saying 'I don't think we play any different than anybody else,' even as Milwaukee's patient, contact-oriented approach defined the win.
- Defensive miscues were the lone blemish for the Brewers, who committed two errors that contributed to all four Dodgers runs; the Brewers also committed two errors in Game 1, but their pitching and offense have otherwise mirrored the formula behind a franchise-record 103-win regular season.
- The series now shifts to Dodger Stadium, where Los Angeles is bidding to become the first National League team to win three consecutive championships and the Brewers are chasing their first World Series appearance since 1982.
Why it matters: Milwaukee's 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven forces the defending-champion Dodgers to win four of five, while the Brewers' bullpen has now logged 28⅔ consecutive near-flawless postseason innings — a historic level of relief dominance that gives short-starts from Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson a viable bridge to closer Aaron Ashby.
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