Going into the 2026 MLB postseason, the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers were on a collision course for the National League Championship Series. If they both got there, the Brewers were hoping for a different ending.
Last October, the Dodgers swept the Brewers on their way to winning their second straight World Series championship. However, this season felt different, and through three games, it has been different.
After winning the first two games at home to open the series on Sunday and Monday, Milwaukee took a commanding 3-0 series lead on Wednesday night in Southern California. A 6-2 Brewers win has them one win away from the World Series.
Jake Bauers Has Milwaukee Brewers One Win Away From World Series
Jackson Chourio got things going with a leadoff home run to begin the game and after being held scoreless through five innings, Los Angeles broke through with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 2-1 lead. That, however, was short-lived.
With Christian Yellich on first base, Jake Bauers began a 12-pitch at-bat against Blake Snell. The Dodgers left-hander and Bauers battled through 11 pitches before Bauers launched a game-winning two-run home run for a 3-2 lead. Garrett Mitchell was in the on-deck circle and was blown away by what he saw from Bauers.
“Super sick,” Mitchell said, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “What more can you say?”
There really isn’t much more you can say in the moment. Milwaukee went on to score one more run in the seventh and one each in the eighth and ninth innings. As for Chourio’s lead-off home run, Bauers was quick to point to the moment long before his at-bat.
“It kind of set the tone for the day,” Bauers said per Cassavell, “and let everyone know that we’re here to win this game.”
Milwaukee Brewers Still Have One More Game To Win
Despite leading the best-of-seven series 3-0, Milwaukee knows that there is still one game to win. Game 4 is Thursday night. This season feels different
“Definitely, it feels better that we have things in our favor this go-around, and we have the advantage,” Chourio said through interpreter Daniel de Mondesert, per Cassavell. “Like I said before, we have yet to complete anything.”
Unlike last year, every time the Dodgers strike first or make a move on the Brewers, Milwaukee has an answer. In the past, that wasn’t the case. This year it and it is making a huge difference.
“I think it’s what it’s all about in the game — to be that locked in that you respond every time,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said, per Cassavell. “It’s resiliency. It’s a belief. It’s all those things. Our guys have done it.”
Milwaukee can clinch its spot in the World Series for the first time since 1982. They have won six of their first seven playoff games after dispatching the San Diego Padres in four games in the NL Division Series. The Brewers have resiliency and belief this postseason, and they have needed it all. They are now one game away from taking down the two-time World Series champions in the playoffs.
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