LOS ANGELES — After charging through America’s Dairyland with a pair of beefed-up pitching performances, the Dodgers play host to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.
Six victories away from becoming the first team to win back-to-back World Series titles in 25 years, the Dodgers now get three home games against the Brewers in order to produce two victories for an NL pennant.
Their 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series came on the back of pitching performances from left-hander Blake Snell in Game 1 and right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2. The duo combined to allow one run on four hits over 17 of the 18 innings at Milwaukee to open the series.
Up next is right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who has made one start in the Dodgers’ 7-1 playoff run so far. The L.A.-area product made an impression by allowing two hits over six scoreless innings in Game 4 of the NL Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, when the Dodgers clinched their spot in the NLCS.
“Right now, all four (starting pitchers) are in a really good head space,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, after also announcing right-hander Shohei Ohtani as his Game 4 starter. “Physically they’re sound. And you feel good about those guys starting a game and pushing them. And they’re prepared for this.”
Less productive has been a shaky bullpen and the top of the order that includes three MVPs in Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. That trio is 4-for-24 (.167) in the series with one home run and three RBIs.
Teoscar Hernandez and Max Muncy carried the offense with home runs in a 5-1 victory in Game 2. Muncy now has the most postseason home runs in Dodgers history with 14, breaking a tie with Justin Turner and Corey Seager.
“I know from our standpoint offensively there are still some moments that we can take advantage of,” Muncy said. “I still think there’s another gear in there. But at the end of the day, we’re winning games.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy declined to name a starter for Game 3 and instead labeled it an all-hands-on-deck situation.
“We’re more depleted than the Dodgers are, but none of that matters,” Murphy said. “It’s about playing Thursday. Everybody will be available, with the exception of (Game 2 starter) Freddy (Peralta). And we’ll attack them.”
And yet, pitching might be the least of Milwaukee’s problems after six members of the Brewers’ staff combined to give up two runs in Game 1 and Peralta was charged with three runs in 5 2/3 innings of Game 2.
On offense, the Brewers not only have just five hits in the series, they have struck out 18 times and have just one at-bat in two games with a runner in scoring position. Jackson Chourio led off Game 2 with a first-pitch home run, but Milwaukee had just two more hits the rest of the way.
“We just have to continue to battle and find a way to get the offense going,” said the Brewers’ Christian Yelich, an L.A.-area native, who is 0-for-7 with a walk and three strikeouts in the NLCS. “I have to be better. We have to be better. Just facts. … Be ready to battle in Game 3.”
In going 6-0 against the Dodgers during the regular season, the Brewers did win two games started by Glasnow in July. But they scored just one earned run off him in 11 innings, with a combined 11 strikeouts.
–Doug Padilla, Field Level Media
