The hope for a Dodgers comeback in the National League Championship Series was fleeting.
A long-awaited home run from Shohei Ohtani briefly stoked the flames. But it had already been snuffed out by the time the final out landed in Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio’s glove.
The Dodgers’ hopes of making National League history with a three-peat died with a 6-4 loss to the Brewers on Thursday, completing Milwaukee’s four-game sweep.
As the Dodgers’ postseason hype video declared before the game: “October doesn’t remember who came close. It remembers who triumphs.”
The Dodgers, after reinforcing their back-to-back championship roster during the offseason and entering the year as the World Series favorites, fell short.
When they went down 3-0 in the series, they faced a steep climb that only one team in MLB postseason history has overcome in a best-of-seven series. But the Dodgers showed resolve to begin the game.
Three singles in the second inning gave the Dodgers a lead, with Andy Pages driving in the first run of the game. It was his third hit of the postseason with runners in scoring position, and the Dodgers’ fourth overall. Then with two outs, Ohtani not only prolonged the inning but made it the Dodgers’ highest-scoring frame of the postseason, with their first home run of the series.
It had been a maddening couple of months, as Ohtani battled injuries, slid down the batting order and failed to produce when the Dodgers needed him most — in the postseason.
Then on Thursday, with the Dodgers on the brink of elimination, one swing wiped all that away.
Ohtani got his bat head down to a former Dodgers pitcher Dustin May’s cutter on the inside corner. He lifted it into the stands for a three-run home run.
Ohtani turned to the Dodgers’ dugout, spread his arms out wide and tossed his bat to the side. He tilted his face to the sky and yelled. He punched the air.
This was the version of Ohtani the Dodgers had sorely been missing. He announced his return with authority. And he breathed life into a stadium that not only wasn’t at capacity but didn’t reach the 50,000 attendance mark.
It was his first home run since Aug. 18. And it had been even longer since he’d hit a homer quite like that. With an exit velocity of 113.1 MPH, it was his hardest-hit home run since June 20 and his third-hardest hit of the year, according to Statcast.
Even more important, it was the big swing the Dodgers had been waiting for all series — and their first home run.
Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow kept the good vibes going, retiring the first 10 batters he faced. But the Brewers, as they had all series, had a comeback in them.
It began with one out in the fourth inning, as Brice Turang drew a walk, to become the first baserunner allowed by Glasnow. Then William Contreras and Jake Bauers each bounced ground-rule doubles into the stands, Bauers’ driving in two runs to cut the Dodgers’ lead in half.
The next inning, the Brewers used a walk, stolen base and David Hamilton’s RBI single to tie the game and knock Glasnow out of it.
Then, in the sixth, Dodgers setup man Tanner Scott took the mound early, at an inflection point in the contest. He worked ahead 0-2 in the count to Garrett Mitchell. But Mitchell spat on three straight balls to get to a full count.
Scott missed down the middle with a fastball. Mitchell sent it over the fence to give the Brewers the lead for the first time.
Roberts continued to manage like he had hope, bringing in Edwin Díaz in the seventh to keep the game close.
The Dodgers offense got runners to third in three straight innings. In the sixth, Kyle Tucker hit a one-out double, and Teoscar Hernández moved him over with a groundout. In the seventh, Pages led off with a double, and Kiké Hernández bunted him over. In the eighth, with one out, Will Smith cut out the middle man by doubling into the right-field corner and advancing to third when right fielder Sal Frelick misplayed the carom off the wall.
The Dodgers stranded all three there, failing to score the tying run.
Díaz did his part to keep the Dodgers in the game, retiring eight straight batters. But the ninth batter he faced, Hamilton, hit a solo homer to add cushion to the Brewers’ lead.
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