Brewers Must Tame Dodgers' Depth in Fourth Playoff Clash
The Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers will meet in the National League Championship Series for the fourth time in nine seasons, with Game 1 scheduled for Sunday night. The top-seeded Brewers (103-59) advanced by eliminating the San Diego Padres in the NL Division Series, while the second-seeded Dodgers (100-62) ousted the Atlanta Braves.
Los Angeles has won all three previous postseason meetings between the clubs - the 2018 NLCS, the 2020 wild-card round and last year's 2025 NLCS, a four-game sweep. Despite ranking third in MLB in both runs and hits during the 2025 regular season, Milwaukee managed just four runs across that series. The Brewers carried a similar offensive slump into this year's NLDS, scoring only 13 runs in four games against San Diego before closing out the series on Wednesday night. floorball odds
FOX Sports analyst Eric Karros said patience at the plate, not power, will be central to any Brewers success against Los Angeles' pitching staff. "They come to play every single day. They grind; they don't give away anything. Offensively, I don't know if it's necessarily the hitting part as much as it's controlling the strike zone, and that means don't expand, don't chase pitches out of the zone, take your walks, be patient and just kind of wear down this Dodgers' pitching staff," Karros said on "The Herd." Milwaukee led MLB in hits (1,422) and on-base percentage (.341) this season and tied for first in batting average (.258), yet finished tied for 28th in home runs (154) - a profile that fits Karros' emphasis on contact and discipline over power.
Second baseman Brice Turang has anchored the Brewers' lineup, driving in a team-high 100 runs, saving 23 defensive runs at the middle infield and posting 7.3 wins above replacement, third among all MLB position players. Jake Bauers led the club with 26 home runs, Jackson Chourio posted a .291/.351/.487 line with 25 homers and 23 stolen bases over 127 games, and catcher William Contreras drove in 94 runs, tops among MLB catchers, before adding two home runs in the NLDS. Still, pitching has carried Milwaukee: the rotation ranked second in opponent batting average (.220) and fifth in ERA (3.61), led by Jacob Misiorowski's NL-best 1.80 ERA and 252 strikeouts, with Logan Henderson adding a 2.47 ERA over 18 starts. The bullpen ranked third in ERA (3.40).
Los Angeles enters with its own offensive depth, led by Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Andy Pages and Kyle Tucker. The Dodgers finished second in MLB in slugging percentage (.424) and ranked among the league's stingiest lineups in strikeouts. Their rotation, featuring 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and trade-deadline addition Tarik Skubal, ranked second in ERA (3.43). Ohtani has not pitched since July 3 due to knee inflammation but remains the team's primary designated hitter.
Karros pointed to a potential matchup edge for Milwaukee: Misiorowski has held left-handed hitters to a .114 average compared to .209 against right-handers, and the Dodgers' lineup skews left-handed. "The Dodgers are top-heavy on the left side. That could help Milwaukee," Karros said, adding that the series will likely hinge on Milwaukee's bullpen against the Dodgers' bench depth and how manager Dave Roberts deploys it. The two teams split their regular-season series 4-3 in Milwaukee's favor, each winning a series on the road. The NLCS will air on FOX networks.
