LOS ANGELES \u2014 Turned out the National League Championship Series was indeed a mismatch, just as Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested.<\/p>\n
But not only in payroll and star power.<\/p>\n
On the baseball field, too. Where it really matters.<\/p>\n
After compiling the majors\u2019 best record during the regular season, the scrappy Brewers appeared capable of beating anybody \u2014 until they ran into Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers in October.<\/p>\n
Milwaukee mustered only four runs and 14 hits in a four-game Dodgers sweep<\/a> that left the Brewers steps short of the World Series once again. The team\u2019s only pennant came in 1982, when Milwaukee was in the American League.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pitching performances by the Dodgers basically put the hammer down,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n Before the series, Murphy did his best to paint a picture of David vs. Goliath, calling the Dodgers \u201ca powerhouse\u201d and joking he was \u201csure that most Dodger players can\u2019t name eight guys\u201d on an underdog Milwaukee roster he had referred to as \u201cAverage Joes.\u201d<\/p>\n The defending World Series champion Dodgers are poised this year to spend a record $509.5 million in payroll and projected luxury tax. The Brewers play in the smallest market in the big leagues, and their entire payroll of $124.8 million doesn\u2019t even approach Los Angeles\u2019 projected luxury tax bill of nearly $168 million.<\/p>\n Still, the NL Central champion Brewers went 97-65 this season and won all six meetings with the NL West champion Dodgers (93-69) \u2014 though those games came in July before a banged-up Los Angeles team got healthier.<\/p>\n When they squared off in the playoffs, it was a different story. Milwaukee scored only one run in each of the four games, and Ohtani delivered the final blow with an epic display Friday night.<\/p>\n The two-way superstar launched three homers at the plate and struck out 10 in six-plus scoreless innings of two-hit ball on the mound as Los Angeles rolled into the World Series with a 5-1 victory in Game 4.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s probably one of the best games anybody\u2019s ever played in baseball, I would imagine,\u201d Brewers slugger Christian Yelich said. \u201cJust an awesome performance from him tonight. He\u2019s the best player in the game for a reason and he definitely showed that tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n During a regular season to savor, Milwaukee got stingy pitching, played airtight defense, moved runners along and came through with timely hits.<\/p>\n But against the Dodgers, the Brewers were outclassed.<\/p>\n