Milwaukee finished a four-game sweep of the two-time defending champions Thursday night with a 6-4 win in Game 4, and the recaps will tell you it was revenge for last October. Look at the fifth inning instead. The Dodgers’ bullpen walked four batters, and the tying run scored on a bases-loaded walk with two outs, no hit required.
That is the part the pennant stories skip. They lead with the history, and the history is real. The Brewers are the first team to sweep an opponent that had swept it a year earlier, and the Dodgers did exactly that to them in the 2025 NLCS. But the game was decided by free passes and a reliever who lost the zone, not by an upset in talent.
How a 4-0 Lead Disappeared
Shohei Ohtani’s three-run homer in the second inning, his first of this postseason, put Los Angeles up 4-0. Tyler Glasnow retired the first 10 Brewers he faced, six on strikeouts. Then the game turned. We rebuilt it from the play-by-play in the NBC Sports and ESPN accounts:
| Inning | What happened | Score after |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd | Ohtani three-run homer, Dodgers lead | LA 4, MIL 0 |
| 4th | Walk, then ground-rule doubles from William Contreras and Jake Bauers | LA 4, MIL 2 |
| 5th | Hamilton single, then three walks, the last with the bases loaded | 4-4 |
| 6th | Garrett Mitchell solo homer off Tanner Scott | MIL 5, LA 4 |
| 9th | David Hamilton solo homer off Edwin Diaz | MIL 6, LA 4 |
Count it. Milwaukee scored six runs, and four of them came in the fourth and fifth innings without a home run. Two came off doubles, one off a single and one off a walk. Only the last two runs, both solo shots, left the yard. The Brewers outscored the Dodgers 6-0 after that second inning.
The 0-2 Pitch
Mitchell was down 0-2 against Tanner Scott in the sixth. Scott then threw three straight balls, and Mitchell still ended up with the go-ahead homer, the first of his career after falling behind 0-2. He had also homered in Milwaukee’s 6-2 win in Game 3.
Across the series the Brewers outhomered the Dodgers 7-1. A lineup built around Ohtani hit one home run in four games, and it was Ohtani’s.
Who Got Beat Here
Los Angeles had the stars and the chance to become the first National League team to win three straight World Series. They lost because their relievers could not find the strike zone with the season on the line. We think that is a managing and roster problem as much as a bad night, and Dave Roberts, who called the Brewers flawless, is the person who decides who pitches the fifth.
Milwaukee, by contrast, won 103 games, a franchise record, and ran its postseason to 7-1. Aaron Ashby worked three scoreless innings for the save. Jake Bauers, the NLCS MVP, called it a movie. Manager Pat Murphy’s line on the podium was the best of the night: the Dodgers have a bunch of Hall of Famers, and the Brewers have a bunch of gamers.
What the Pennant Means
This is Milwaukee’s first National League pennant. It was the only one of the league’s 15 current franchises that had never won one. The Brewers’ only other World Series trip came in 1982, when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games as an American League club.
Questions Fans Are Asking
Who will the Brewers play in the World Series?
The winner of the Guardians-Rays American League Championship Series. The World Series opens Oct. 23 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, the first Fall Classic game ever played there, according to ESPN.
Who was the NLCS MVP?
Jake Bauers, whose ground-rule double in the fourth started the comeback and who drew the bases-loaded walk that tied Game 4.
Did the Dodgers have a chance at a three-peat?
They were trying to become the first National League team to win three straight World Series. The sweep ended that.