Brewers 6, Dodgers 2: back-to-back homers in the 7th put Milwaukee up 3-0
Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell homered on consecutive swings after Los Angeles had edged ahead, leaving the two-time defending champions one loss from elimination.
The Milwaukee Brewers now need one more win to reach the World Series. A 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series gave them a 3-0 lead, and it turned on a single swing-and-answer in the seventh inning.
The seventh inning
The Dodgers had pushed ahead 2-1 in the sixth, with Will Smith driving in two runs on a double, according to the Associated Press. Milwaukee answered in the seventh. Jake Bauers hit a 412-foot home run to put the Brewers back in front, and Garrett Mitchell followed immediately with a 428-foot shot of his own, the AP reported. Back-to-back homers took Milwaukee from trailing to leading by two against Blake Snell, who struck out nine over his outing but left in the seventh inning having been charged with four runs.
That was the swing of the night. Milwaukee added to the lead late: Brice Turang scored on a wild pitch from Justin Wrobleski in the eighth, and Cooper Pratt came home on a two-out single from Joey Ortiz in the ninth to make it 6-2.
Gasser's start
Milwaukee's starter, Robert Gasser, held Los Angeles scoreless through five innings on 72 pitches, allowing three hits and a walk with three strikeouts, per the AP account. Milwaukee held a 1-0 lead through his five innings, per the AP account's scoring summary.
What it means
The Dodgers are the two-time defending World Series champions, and they are now one loss away from having that run end. Baseball's postseason format is best-of-seven, so a 3-0 deficit is not the end of the series arithmetically, but it is the position from which a comeback is hardest to build. Los Angeles has to win four straight.
Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday, October 15 at Dodger Stadium, a 7:00 p.m. CT first pitch, with Tyler Glasnow listed as the Dodgers' starter. Milwaukee's starter had not been announced in the reporting Torch reviewed.
For the Brewers, the formula in Game 3 was a scoreless start from Gasser and a decisive seventh inning. For Los Angeles, the task is to win Game 4 to keep the series alive.