The Los Angeles Dodgers moved within two wins of a return trip to the World Series with a 5–1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday night at American Family Field. Entering the matchup, sportsbooks generally positioned Los Angeles as a slight road favorite, listing the Dodgers around –120 on the moneyline, while the Brewers were available near even odds at +100. Those expectations aligned with a dominant performance from Los Angeles, led by Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s three-hit complete game that continued a remarkable run of postseason excellence by the Dodgers’ rotation.
Yamamoto’s outing marked the first postseason complete game in eight years and the first by a Dodgers pitcher since 2004. It followed Blake Snell’s eight scoreless innings in Game 1, giving Los Angeles consecutive starts of at least eight innings in the same series for the first time since San Francisco achieved the feat in the 2010 World Series. Yamamoto threw 111 pitches, including eighty-one strikes, and retired the final fourteen batters he faced. Aside from allowing a leadoff home run to Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio on his first pitch of the night, Yamamoto controlled every inning with a mix of splitters, fastballs and curveballs, finishing with seven strikeouts and one walk.
The Dodgers’ strategic reliance on deep outings from their starters has been a departure from last postseason, when their rotation worked six innings in only two of sixteen games. This October, Los Angeles has leaned heavily on its front-line arms, producing seven quality starts in eight playoff games and a combined 1.54 ERA from its rotation. Manager Dave Roberts noted that the team’s success has flowed directly from that foundation, acknowledging that the Dodgers are “peaking at the right time” after winning seven of their first eight postseason contests.
Milwaukee briefly held momentum when Chourio homered on Yamamoto’s first pitch, electrifying the sold-out crowd. But the Dodgers answered swiftly in the top of the inning. Teoscar Hernández, whose baserunning mistake factored heavily into the Brewers’ unusual double play in Game 1, responded with a 3–2 homer off Freddy Peralta to tie the score. Los Angeles took the lead minutes later when Kiké Hernández singled and scored on a double by rookie Andy Pages, who entered the game hitting just .037 in the postseason before coming through with a timely opposite-field shot into the right-field corner.
Max Muncy extended the lead to 3–1 in the sixth inning with a two-out home run, his fourteenth career postseason blast, setting a Dodgers franchise record. That drive, coming on Peralta’s ninety-seventh pitch, marked the veteran left-hander’s exit after allowing three runs on six hits with nine strikeouts.
Los Angeles continued to add separation late. Shohei Ohtani, who has struggled at the plate throughout the postseason and had been just two for his previous twenty-five entering Game 2, delivered an RBI single in the seventh. Tommy Edman provided further cushion an inning later with another run-scoring single, stretching the Dodgers’ advantage to four.
The Brewers, who led the majors with ninety-seven wins in the regular season, have produced just five hits in the series and have scored once in the first two games. Star outfielder Christian Yelich acknowledged the need for improvement, calling Milwaukee’s offensive struggles “just facts” as the team tries to avoid falling into a nearly insurmountable deficit.
Game 2 continued a difficult trend for the Brewers, who have faced adversity repeatedly this season but now find themselves pushed to the brink. Only three teams in Major League Baseball history have recovered from losing the first two games at home in a best-of-seven series, all occurring in the World Series. Manager Pat Murphy emphasized that the Brewers still believe in their ability to respond, despite the odds.
For the Dodgers, the formula remains clear. Their starting rotation has been impeccable, providing stability even as the bullpen has endured inconsistent stretches and Ohtani has yet to deliver the type of offensive production expected from a three-time MVP. With Yamamoto and Snell delivering back-to-back gems, Los Angeles continues its pursuit of a third championship in six years.
The series shifts to Dodger Stadium for Game 3 on Thursday, where Tyler Glasnow is scheduled to start for Los Angeles. The Brewers have not yet announced their starter. If the Dodgers maintain their current level of pitching dominance, they will be positioned to take another significant step toward defending their World Series crown.