Brewers bring 2-0 NLCS lead to Los Angeles; Gasser and Snell set for Game 3

Game 1: Turang's homer, then a bullpen hold

Milwaukee won the opener 2-1 on Sunday, 11 October, before 42,617 fans, according to the Baseball-Reference box score [1]. The Dodgers scored first in the second inning, when Andy Pages singled home Shohei Ohtani [1][8]. Brice Turang tied the game with a leadoff home run off Tarik Skubal in the fourth. Luis Lara put the Brewers ahead with an RBI single in the fifth that scored Garrett Mitchell [1][8].

DL Hall got the win, Skubal took the loss and Trevor Megill recorded the save, Baseball-Reference shows [1]. Each team had seven hits or fewer: the Dodgers had seven and the Brewers six. Neither side made an error [1]. According to the Baseball Almanac box score, the Brewers turned three double plays, and the Dodgers left nine runners on base to Milwaukee's seven [8].

Game 2: Contreras answers three times

The Dodgers took the lead three times in the first five innings of Game 2 on Monday, 12 October, and Milwaukee answered each time, the AP reported [4]. The Brewers won 7-4 before 42,516 fans [2][3].

ESPN's scoring summary shows the game moving back and forth [3]:

• 1st inning: Teoscar HernΓö£├¡ndez's sacrifice fly scored Mookie Betts. William Contreras singled home Brice Turang in the bottom half.
• 3rd inning: Tommy Edman scored on a pickoff throwing error by Brewers starter Logan Henderson. Christian Yelich then hit a two-run single that put Milwaukee ahead 3-2.
• 5th inning: The Dodgers scored twice to lead 4-3. One run came home on a second throwing error by Henderson and the other on Freddie Freeman's sacrifice fly. Contreras tied the game with a 436-foot homer to center.
• 6th inning: Contreras singled home Hamilton for a 5-4 lead.
• 8th inning: Turang and Jake Bauers drove in two insurance runs.

Contreras went 3-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs [3][4]. The AP reported that his fifth-inning homer came off Kris Bubic [4]. The Brewers outhit the Dodgers 12-3, and each team made two errors [2][3]. JoJo Romero got the win, Brock Stewart took the loss and Aaron Ashby earned the save [2].

Romero, Abner Uribe and Ashby retired the final 12 Dodgers, from the sixth inning through the ninth, according to ESPN's play-by-play [11]. The AP had reported that the three "combined to retire the last 15 Dodgers" [4]. ESPN's play-by-play shows that a streak of 15 counts the three fifth-inning outs recorded by another reliever, Dustin May, who threw a perfect fifth according to MLB's official box score [11][13].

Chart: Runs by inning in NLCS Games 1 and 2, from the Baseball-Reference box scores [1][2]. The Game 2 line matches ESPN [3]. Milwaukee did not bat in the bottom of the ninth in either game.

The pitching picture

The Dodgers started Skubal in Game 1 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 and lost both games, MLB.com reported on 12 October [5]. MLB.com's Game 2 takeaways said no starter on either team had gone more than five innings in the series. It also said Milwaukee's bullpen had thrown more innings (9Γàö) than its starters (8Γàô), and that Yamamoto lasted 2Γàö innings in Game 2 [9].

Pitching lines

Full pitching lines from MLB's official box scores [12][13]. Decision notes (W, L, S, H, BS) are as MLB records them, with each pitcher's postseason record or total.

Game 1 (11 October): Brewers 2, Dodgers 1 [12]

Los Angeles Dodgers

| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | Pitches | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Tarik Skubal (L, 1-1) | 5.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 81 | | Alex Vesia | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 16 | | Evan Phillips | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 | | Tanner Scott | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 |

Milwaukee Brewers

| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | Pitches | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Jacob Misiorowski | 4.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 94 | | DL Hall (W, 2-0) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | | Abner Uribe (H, 2) | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | | Aaron Ashby (H, 1) | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 26 | | Trevor Megill (S, 3) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 |

In Game 1, Milwaukee starter Jacob Misiorowski went 4Γàô innings, allowing one run on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Four relievers then held Los Angeles scoreless over the final 4Γàö innings, per MLB's box score [12]. Skubal struck out seven in five innings and allowed both Milwaukee runs [12].

Game 2 (12 October): Brewers 7, Dodgers 4 [13]

Los Angeles Dodgers

| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | Pitches | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | 2.2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 75 | | Alex Vesia | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | | Roki Sasaki | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | | Kris Bubic (BS, 1) | 0.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 22 | | Brock Stewart (L, 0-1) | 0.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | | Tanner Scott | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | | Edgardo Henriquez | 1.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | | Justin Wrobleski | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 |

Milwaukee Brewers

| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | Pitches | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Logan Henderson | 4.0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 64 | | Dustin May | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | | JoJo Romero (W, 1-1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | | Abner Uribe (H, 3) | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | | Aaron Ashby (S, 1) | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 |

Henderson allowed four runs, two earned, in four innings. After that, May, Romero, Uribe and Ashby combined for five hitless, walkless innings, per MLB's box score [13]. The Dodgers used eight pitchers [13].

Game 3 preview

When and where: Wednesday, 14 October, at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT at Dodger Stadium, on FS1, according to MLB.com's 13 October Game 3 guide [6]. ESPN's game page also lists 8 p.m. at Dodger Stadium, on FS1 [7]. MLB's official schedule data, checked early on 14 October, list the same start (00:00 UTC on 15 October, which is 8 p.m. ET on 14 October), FS1/FOX One, and Gasser and Snell as probable starters [14].

Probable starters: MLB.com and ESPN both list left-hander Robert Gasser for Milwaukee and left-hander Blake Snell for Los Angeles [6][7]. MLB.com said Gasser was 2-0 with a 1.73 ERA in his last seven games, six of them starts, including Game 4 of the NL Division Series [6]. According to MLB.com, Snell had a 2.19 ERA in five starts at Dodger Stadium in 2026, including the postseason, and in his first start of this postseason, in Game 2 of the NLDS against Atlanta, he walked five in 3Γàö innings and allowed one run [6]. MLB.com listed Milwaukee's Game 4 starter as to be determined [6].

Ohtani: MLB.com reported that the Dodgers had talked about sitting a struggling Ohtani, but that manager Dave Roberts said he will start Game 3 [6]. Ohtani and Will Smith have dropped in the batting order during their postseason struggles, according to MLB.com [6].

The Dodgers' situation: Los Angeles now has three straight home games. Games 4 and 5, if needed, are on 15 and 16 October. Games 6 and 7, if needed, would be in Milwaukee on 18 and 19 October, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on 12 October [10]. "You need Snell to go out there and give us some length," Roberts said, as quoted by MLB.com [9].

The stakes: Milwaukee won 103 regular-season games and Los Angeles won 100 [1]. The Dodgers are the two-time defending World Series champions [4]. They swept the Brewers in last year's NLCS, according to MLB.com and the Journal Sentinel [5][10]. The AP reported that Milwaukee is two wins from its first World Series appearance since 1982 [4].

ANALYSIS: Milwaukee has won both games while its starters pitched short outings, so the bullpen has carried a heavy load. That makes length from Gasser important at the start of what could be three straight games in Los Angeles. The Dodgers have been held to five runs in two games, and they will face a left-handed starter.

Sources

[1] Baseball-Reference, 2026 NLCS Game 1 box score, Dodgers at Brewers, 11 Oct 2026. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIL/MIL202610110.shtml [2] Baseball-Reference, 2026 NLCS Game 2 box score, Dodgers at Brewers, 12 Oct 2026. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIL/MIL202610120.shtml [3] ESPN, Brewers 7-4 Dodgers, NLCS Game 2 box score and scoring summary, 12 Oct 2026. https://www.espn.com/mlb/game/_/gameId/401908031/dodgers-brewers [4] Associated Press, "Contreras delivers and Milwaukee's bullpen shines as the Brewers top the Dodgers 7-4 in NLCS Game 2," 12 Oct 2026 (also via CBS Sports gametracker). https://apnews.com/article/nlcs-dodgers-brewers-score-ab3582bf1fa6a813ef0350f2c2b1f1b0 ; https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/gametracker/boxscore/MLB_20261012_LAD@MIL/ [5] MLB.com, Brewers win NLCS Game 2, 12 Oct 2026. https://www.mlb.com/news/brewers-win-nlcs-game-2-2026 [6] MLB.com, "Brewers-Dodgers NLCS Game 3 FAQ (Wed., 8 p.m. ET, FS1/FOX One)," 13 Oct 2026. https://www.mlb.com/news/brewers-dodgers-nl-championship-series-game-3-starting-lineups-and-pitching-matchup [7] ESPN, Brewers vs. Dodgers, NLCS Game 3 game page (Gasser vs. Snell, FS1), checked 14 Oct 2026. https://www.espn.com/mlb/game/_/gameId/401908032/brewers-dodgers [8] Baseball Almanac, 2026 NLCS Game 1 box score, 11 Oct 2026. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=202610110ML4 [9] MLB.com, "Key takeaways from Brewers' win over Dodgers in NLCS Game 2," Oct 2026. https://www.mlb.com/brewers/news/key-takeaways-from-brewers-win-over-dodgers-in-nlcs-game-2 [10] Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, NLCS schedule, 12 Oct 2026. https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2026/10/12/brewers-vs-dodgers-nlcs-schedule-game-3/92218439007/ [11] ESPN, NLCS Game 2 play-by-play, Dodgers at Brewers, 12 Oct 2026. https://www.espn.com/mlb/playbyplay/_/gameId/401908031 [12] MLB.com / MLB Stats API, official box score, NLCS Game 1 (gamePk 849809), 11 Oct 2026. https://www.mlb.com/gameday/849809/final/box ; https://statsapi.mlb.com/api/v1/game/849809/boxscore [13] MLB.com / MLB Stats API, official box score, NLCS Game 2 (gamePk 849812), 12 Oct 2026. https://www.mlb.com/gameday/849812/final/box ; https://statsapi.mlb.com/api/v1/game/849812/boxscore [14] MLB Stats API, 2026 postseason schedule with probable pitchers and broadcasts, checked 14 Oct 2026. https://statsapi.mlb.com/api/v1/schedule?sportId=1&startDate=2026-10-14&endDate=2026-10-14&hydrate=probablePitcher,broadcasts(all)