Washington, DC/--°
Updating
Subscribe free
National Sports

Milwaukee sweeps the Dodgers out of history and into the World Series

The Brewers came back from four runs down to beat Los Angeles 6-4 in Game 4, completing an NLCS sweep of the two-time defending champions and booking their first World Series trip since 1982.

Milwaukee sweeps the Dodgers out of history and into the World Series

They trailed in every single game. They were playing in the building where their season had ended in a sweep one year earlier. Shohei Ohtani, silent for nearly two months in the postseason, had just hit a three-run homer to put the Dodgers up 4-0 in the second inning of their own elimination game. And the Brewers came back anyway.

Milwaukee defeated Los Angeles 6-4 Thursday night in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, completing a four-game sweep of the two-time defending World Series champions and punching their ticket to the Fall Classic for the first time in 44 years. The Brewers are going to the World Series. Milwaukee hasn't been there since 1982.

The number is worth sitting with. Forty-four years. One generation of fans raised another, and their kids are grown now. After falling to the Dodgers in the postseason in 2018, 2020, and 2025, the Brewers beat L.A. After being swept by the Dodgers in last year's NLCS, the Brewers returned the favor. They are the first team to do that, and the first team in 103 years to get swept by a team in the postseason and then rebound to beat that same team in the following postseason.

A comeback for the ages, in the worst possible place to need one

The Dodgers delivered an early haymaker in the second inning when Ohtani's three-run homer off Dustin May gave the defending champions a 4-0 lead, injecting life into the struggling superstar and his team, who looked ready to claw back from a 0-3 series deficit.

It didn't last. Trailing 4-0, William Contreras and Jake Bauers halved the deficit with back-to-back doubles in the fourth inning. An inning later, David Hamilton's RBI single and Bauers' bases-loaded walk tied the game.

Then came center fielder Garrett Mitchell. With the score tied 4-4, Mitchell fell behind 0-2 before Tanner Scott threw three straight balls for a full count. Mitchell's 409-foot leadoff drive to center field put the Brewers ahead for the first time. He had also homered in Milwaukee's 6-2 victory Wednesday.

David Hamilton's two-out solo shot off Edwin Diaz gave the Brewers a two-run cushion in the ninth. Hamilton had just four home runs in the regular season. When Max Muncy made the final out, the visitors poured onto the Dodger Stadium grass and celebrated in front of a quiet crowd that, just two hours earlier, had dared to believe the Dodgers still had life.

The Dodgers led in all four games of the NLCS but couldn't stop the Brewers from coming back. Los Angeles went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left five on base. Kyle Tucker was stranded after a one-out double in the sixth, Andy Pages was left on third after leading off the seventh with an extra-base hit, and Will Smith was left on base after ending up at third on a double and a Brewers error in the eighth. Tyler Glasnow was blunt about what happened. "They played a lot better than us," Glasnow said. "They were hitting on everything."

Bauers, the guy who almost quit, wins MVP

The series MVP was not Mitchell. It was not Hamilton, not Contreras. It was first baseman Jake Bauers, a 31-year-old journeyman who spent parts of his career with four different organizations and nearly walked away from the game entirely.

He nearly retired after the 2023 season, but after his wife told him she was pregnant, Bauers decided to keep playing to provide health insurance for his family. That proved to be a good decision, as three years later he put together a career season with 26 home runs and 86 RBI while batting a career-high .266.

Bauers went 4-for-14 with three walks, a double, a homer, and six RBI during the four-game sweep. Game 4 alone: he got the comeback started with a two-run double off Tyler Glasnow in the fourth inning, then worked a bases-loaded walk to bring in the tying run during the fifth.

The Brewers had never had a player win the LCS MVP Award before. When they won the AL pennant in 1982, the Angels' Fred Lynn won MVP honors in a losing effort. Bauers is the franchise's first.

Bauers entered the 2026 playoffs with just four RBI in the postseason for his entire career, a number he nearly doubled in the NLCS alone.

A team built on comebacks, now going to the World Series

The Brewers became the first team to begin a postseason with six comeback victories in their first eight games. The four-run comeback in the clincher tied the largest deficit ever erased to clinch an LCS in MLB history. The Yankees overcame four-run deficits to clinch the AL pennant in both 2000 and 2003.

The Brewers will face either the Cleveland Guardians or the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series, going for the first championship in franchise history. Game 1 of the World Series Presented by Capital One is set for Oct. 23 on FOX.

As for the Dodgers, the sting here is specific. They held a lead in all four games of the National League Championship Series, yet it is the Brewers who are in the World Series for only the second time in franchise history. Los Angeles spent the winter assembling one of the most expensive rosters in baseball history. They won the NLDS. They had the best player on the field in Ohtani. And they could not hold a single lead when it mattered.

In the ninth inning Thursday, David Hamilton blasted a home run with two outs, extending Milwaukee's lead to two runs. At the moment of contact, a collective "ooooh" could be heard in the lowest bowl of Dodger Stadium. That about covers it.

Also worth watching: Hurts is out, indefinitely

Away from the baseball diamond, a significant NFL story broke Thursday afternoon. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will miss Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers due to a superficial blood clot.

Hurts asked the Eagles' training staff to treat his calf on Oct. 8 after being cleated during Philadelphia's game against the Los Angeles Rams. An ultrasound performed on Oct. 10, after the team flew to London, revealed the superficial blood clot. Doctors concluded that "activity and mobility were important and that Jalen could safely play."

After practicing fully Wednesday to begin Week 6 preparation, a follow-up ultrasound showed movement in the blood clot. The Eagles elected to hold Hurts out, with backup Tanner McKee now primed to start against Carolina. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport went further. Rapoport described Hurts' status as "out indefinitely," saying the situation is "scary" and that treatment would likely involve blood thinners, which would prevent Hurts from playing. The Eagles have already lost three straight after starting the season 2-0.

Through five games in 2026, Hurts completed 57.8 percent of his passes for 933 yards, eight touchdowns, and three interceptions, while rushing 23 times for 107 yards and a touchdown. The Eagles have not announced a timeline for his return.

Sources