David Hamilton, a Boston Red Sox reserve until the team cast him off in February, scored three of the Milwaukee Brewers’ seven runs Monday in a 7-4 National League Championship Series Game 2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The result sends Milwaukee to Dodger Stadium up 2-0, as the player batting ninth scored each time the Brewers pulled ahead or padded a lead.
Hamilton started at third base. He singled to center in the third inning, stole second and scored along with Brice Turang on Christian Yelich’s two-run single to center, according to ESPN‘s play-by-play account.
Brock Stewart’s first pitch of the sixth inning hit him. Stewart’s errant throw to first moved Hamilton to second, and William Contreras’ RBI single to left brought him home for a 5-4 lead, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
His third run came in the eighth, when Turang singled to right.
Hamilton batted .245/.314/.336 in 121 games this season, a career high, with 83 hits, four home runs, 26 RBI and 30 stolen bases. He also led the majors with 13 sacrifice hits and posted 1.8 WAR. His career line stands at .231/.296/.350 with 18 home runs and 87 stolen bases in 325 games. Before Monday, he had gone 1-for-4 in two postseason games.
Hamilton’s Red Sox Years and Trade to Brewers
The Brewers drafted Hamilton in the eighth round in 2019 out of Texas, then sent him to Boston on Dec. 1, 2021, in the Hunter Renfroe deal, according to MLB.com.
He made his big-league debut June 21, 2023, and hit .121 in 15 games. Boston optioned him to Triple-A Worcester to open that season and again to open 2024, then recalled him. In 2024 he hit .248 with eight homers, 28 RBI and 33 steals in 98 games, worth 2.8 WAR.
A bench role in 2025 sent him back to Worcester twice. His line fell to .198 with six homers and 22 steals in 91 games.
“I think going down helped me just be myself again,” Hamilton said, as quoted by Sports Illustrated.
Red Sox then-manager Alex Cora credited the stint for sharpening him, saying Hamilton “got his rhythm back,” as quoted by SI. Across three seasons in Boston, he compiled a stat line of .222/.283/.359 with 14 homers, 47 RBI and 57 steals in 204 games.
On Feb. 9, Milwaukee reacquired him in a six-player trade, according to CBS Sports. The Brewers received left-handers Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan along with Hamilton. Boston got infielders Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio and Anthony Seigler, plus a Competitive Balance Round B pick. Durbin had finished third in 2025 NL Rookie of the Year voting. Hamilton opened this season as Milwaukee’s starting third baseman.
He earns $787,300 this season, remains pre-arbitration with 2.011 years of service time as of January, becomes arbitration eligible in 2027 and reaches free agency in 2030.
Milwaukee Brewers, David Hamilton Turn Attention to Los Angeles
The Brewers won 103 games in the regular season and beat the San Diego Padres in four games in the NLDS. They also took NLCS Game 1 against the Dodgers on Sunday in Milwaukee.
The Dodgers now need four wins in their final five games to reach the World Series for a third straight year. Game 3 shifts to Dodger Stadium, where the Brewers will try to stretch their series lead to 3-0.
Red Sox Castoff David Hamilton Makes Big Impact for Brewers in NLCS