Brewers beat Dodgers 7-4 to take 2-0 NLCS lead as Yamamoto is chased early
Yoshinobu Yamamoto lasted 2 2/3 innings, the shortest start of his postseason career, as Milwaukee won 7-4 on Monday, 12 October. The loss puts the Dodgers' bid for a third straight title in doubt, and Shohei Ohtani's slump has put a Game 3 benching under consideration.
Yamamoto chased early
Yoshinobu Yamamoto lasted 2 2/3 innings, the shortest start of his postseason career, as the Dodgers lost 7-4 to the Brewers on Monday, 12 October, and fell behind 2-0 in the National League Championship Series. He threw 75 pitches and allowed three runs and four hits before he was pulled. Milwaukee kept fouling off pitches and running up his count, and in the third inning Jake Bauers worked a 12-pitch plate appearance that ended in a walk and loaded the bases. Christian Yelich then lined a two-run single to center that put the Brewers ahead 3-2. Entering the series, Yamamoto was 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career postseason appearances, which made the outing a clear departure.
- Teoscar Hernández sacrifice fly scores Mookie Betts, Dodgers take 1-0 lead
- Brice Turang one-out double and William Contreras RBI single tie the game 1-1
- Jake Bauers walks after a 12-pitch plate appearance, loading the bases
- Christian Yelich's two-run single to center puts Milwaukee ahead 3-2
- Yamamoto is pulled after 2 2/3 innings and 75 pitches
- Dodgers retake the lead after another Logan Henderson error and a Freddie Freeman sacrifice fly
- Contreras hits a solo home run off Kris Bubic to tie the game 4-4
- Brewers win 7-4 and lead the series 2-0
Yamamoto also lost a call that mattered. In the first inning he got two strikes on Brice Turang with a splitter that caught the low and away corner, but umpire Chris Segal did not move, and Will Smith said he thought it was too early in the game to tap his head for an ABS challenge. In the third inning Yamamoto felt he had thrown strike three to Turang again without getting the call, but he did not initiate a challenge, so the call stood and Turang walked. Asked about the outing through an interpreter, Yamamoto said:
I need to check the videos and then I can reflect on what happened today.
Contreras and the Brewers' bullpen
William Contreras homered off Kris Bubic to tie the game 4-4 and finished with three RBIs. He is the first player in nearly three decades with three game-tying or go-ahead hits in a postseason game. Milwaukee's bullpen did not allow a hit over five innings, and the Dodgers could not manage a single base runner against it. Contreras also caught a perfect bullpen relay, 15 up and 15 down, which put the Brewers two wins from the World Series. Captain Christian Yelich praised his teammate:
He likes the moments, likes the big moments.
Ohtani and the Dodgers' lineup
Shohei Ohtani is 3-for-20 in the postseason with no extra-base hits and three walks. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in Game 2, lowering his postseason average to.150, and he has not homered since 18 August. Since 19 August he is 14-for-90 with a batting average under.160. The Dodgers have scored 19 runs in six postseason games and are batting.193. Manager Dave Roberts moved Teoscar Hernandez up to third and dropped Will Smith to fifth on Monday. Roberts told The Athletic he will speak with Ohtani on Tuesday, 13 October, and said:
He certainly has earned that conversation and deserves it.
The Dodgers have made no formal decision, and any change would also involve president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. According to a team source who spoke anonymously, rookie Josue De Paula would be the top candidate to take Ohtani's place as designated hitter. De Paula made his big-league debut in mid-September and has fewer than 50 plate appearances.
Series stakes
The Brewers won 103 games in the regular season, the most in the majors, and now lead the series 2-0. In 57 seasons in Milwaukee, no Brewers team had ever led a League Championship Series by two games, and no Brewers team had led any best-of-seven postseason series by two games before this one. The Dodgers, two-time World Series champions, are trying to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series. Teoscar Hernandez said:
There is still a lot of series to go.
Game 3 is set for Wednesday, 14 October, in Los Angeles.
