William Contreras hit a game-tying home run in the fifth and scored the go-ahead run an inning later as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 Monday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
Four relievers combined to retire the final 15 Dodgers batters in order as the Brewers took a 2-0 lead over the two-time defending World Series champions in this best-of-seven series, which travels to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday.
The Brewers are chasing their second pennant and first in the NL. They made their only World Series appearance in 1982, while in the American League. Los Angeles is trying to become the first National League team to win three consecutive World Series.
The Dodgers last recovered from a 2-0 deficit to win a series in 2020, when they beat the Atlanta Braves in a seven-game NLCS before winning the World Series. The Dodgers will need more punch from their lineup to have a chance of returning to the Fall Classic. They managed just three hits Monday and went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position to fall to 2 for 26 in those situations in the postseason.
Los Angeles couldn’t even get a boost from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who went 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career postseason appearances. Yamamoto lasted just 2.2 innings for his shortest postseason start. The Brewers continually fouled outfields and increased Yamamoto’s pitch count before knocking him out of the game.
“I don’t know the exact reason yet,” Yamamoto said after the match. “I need to check the videos and then I can think about what happened today.”
The Dodgers took the lead three times in the first five innings. Milwaukee responded each time, the latest being when Contreras tied the game with a 436-foot homer to center Kris Bubic in the fifth.
This turned the game into a bullpen battle, where the Brewers once again had the advantage. Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby combined to shut down the Dodgers after Logan Henderson’s early exit.
The score was tied 4-4 when Milwaukee’s David Hamilton was hit by a pitch from Brock Stewart to lead off the sixth. Stewart attempted a throw that came off first baseman Freddie Freeman’s glove and into foul territory for an error, advancing Hamilton to second.
After Jackson Chourio was grounded out, right-hander Stewart walked left-hander Brice Turang to face right-hander Contreras, who had homered in his previous plate appearance.
Contreras chose the left this time to bring Hamilton home with the go-ahead.
Turang and Jake Bauers added RBI singles in the eighth to extend Milwaukee’s lead.
Cleveland Guardians 7–3 Tampa Bay Rays
In Monday’s other game, Nathaniel Lowe hit a game-tying two-run single in the eighth inning, Chase DeLauter and Patrick Bailey hit solo home runs off Drew Rasmussen, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
Junior Caminero and Jonny DeLuca had RBI singles in the first game. Foster Griffin and Cedric Mullins hit a solo home run for the Rays, who never trailed in a sweep of the New York Yankees in their AL Division Series.
Game 2 is Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. Rookie left-hander Parker Messick starts for Cleveland and right-hander Freddy Peralta takes the mound for the Rays.
Five relievers combined for five one-run, two-hit innings for the Guardians, who became just the 11th team to overcome an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five playoff series with a victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
Cade Smith, who pitched in all five games against Chicago, threw a perfect ninth.
Rasmussen took a 2-0 lead in the sixth before DeLauter led off with an opposite-field homer to left center. Bailey started the seventh with a towering shot to center that traveled about 436 feet, ending Rasmussen’s night. Rasmussen went no-hitter in the eighth of Game 1 of the ALDS against the Yankees.
José Ramírez led off the eighth with an infield single against Tyler Wells, and DeLauter hit a double to right. After Wells retired Jo Adell on a grounder to second, Ian Seymour entered. Lowe lined an 0-2 pitch up the middle to score two, giving Cleveland a 4-2 lead.
Mullins connected with Erik Sabrowski in the bottom half.
Ramirez, whose two-run homer lifted Cleveland to a 2-0 victory in Game 5 against Chicago, provided an insurance run with an RBI single in the ninth against Cole Sulser. He helped the Guardians get two more by going third with two outs and two strikes on Adell. Caminero ran to cover the bag and was out of position when Adell hit a sharp grounder to third. The ball rolled into left field for a two-run double.
A crowd of 35,361 fans waved yellow rally towels and rang bells at Tropicana Field during the Rays’ third ALCS appearance in the franchise’s 29 seasons. They were excited when the 98-win Rays took a 2-0 lead in the first and Rasmussen fought to maintain it until the sixth.
After that dominant performance against the Yankees, Rasmussen had six tough innings. The two-time All-Star right-hander, who was four outs from a hit in a 1-0 win over New York, allowed one hit to the second batter he faced and eight total, striking out seven.
Griffin allowed two runs and five hits in four innings.
The Rays allowed only 12 hits in three games against the Yankees, but the Guardians had 14 in the series opener, including three each from Ramírez and DeLauter.
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