MILWAUKEE, WISC– The Milwaukee Brewers lead 2-0 over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2026 National League Championship Series (NLCS). The Brewers easily defeated the Dodgers 7-4 in Game 2 of the NLCS, backed by three RBIs from William Contreras.
The best-of-seven series now shifts to Southern California. Despite the Dodgers entering the matchup as the two-time defending World Series champions, their offense fell flat against Milwaukee’s elite bullpen, which tossed five perfect, hitless relief innings to close out Game 2.
In MLB postseason history, teams taking a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win the series 83.2% of the time (79 out of 95 instances). However, the resilient Dodgers have historically overcome multiple 2-0 deficits during their modern postseason runs.
Shohei Ohtani has struggled mightily while managing late-season knee and biceps ailments. The Dodgers organization is reportedly internally discussing potential adjustments to the heart of the order.
Even considering the unfathomable:benching superstar Shohei Ohtani. “He doesn’t feel great. I think for me, it’s having a conversation with him tomorrow, kind of trying to figure out what’s best for him, what’s best for us. He certainly has earned that conversation and deserves it,” said Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts.
In Game 2, Ohtani went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, lowering his postseason average to .150 and his postseason OPS to .411.
Game 3 is set for Wednesday in Los Angeles.
LA jumped out to an early lead thanks to some uncharacteristic sloppiness from the Brewers. Mookie Betts walked, Freddie Freeman moved him to second, and he took third on a wild pitch from starter Logan Henderson.
Teoscar Hernandez knocked him in with a sacrifice fly, and the Dodgers had a 1-0 lead without a hit. Sure enough, Milwaukee immediately tied it in the bottom of the first.
The Brewers bullpen, which is apparently unhittable, put up another scoreless inning before the Milwaukee superteam once again kicked into high gear in the bottom of the sixth. Hamilton reached on a hit by pitch, advanced to second after a poor pickoff attempt, went to third on a Jackson Chourio grounder, and scored on yet another end of the bat blooper from Contreras.
Contreras stepped up again for the Brewers in the bottom of the sixth, notching his third RBI with a single to left field that brought home David Hamilton and gave Milwaukee a 5-4 lead.
Game 3 will shift to the West Coast as both teams head to Dodger Stadium for the next games of the series, beginning Wednesday with first pitch scheduled for 5:00 PM.
