![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791889689_910_hqdefault.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAnd after going 15 up, 15 down to end Game 2 against a Brewers bullpen that has a 0.31 ERA this October, and watching playoff sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto fail to escape the third inning in Milwaukee, the Dodgers seemed almost incredulous.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“If there is a positive, you can say that a lot of our guys are starting to get looks at their back-end guys,” said third baseman Max Muncy. “But when they\u2019re as good as they are, I don\u2019t know how much that helps.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Muncy, of course, still said he likes the Dodgers\u2019 chances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Things are going to turn,” Muncy claimed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The rest of the room followed suit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s never a doubt, at least for me,” said Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez. “I know what I\u2019m capable of. I know what this team is capable of. Just because we lose two games doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s over.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Brewers are two wins away from the World Series. (Photo by Daniel Shirey\/MLB Photos via Getty Images) <\/p>\n
“It\u2019s gonna be a great series,” added Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman. “They know they\u2019ve got a lot on their hands, too.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
So far, though, the Dodgers have yet to show it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Through two games, it\u2019s the Brewers withstanding and countering every punch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s a reason why they won 103 games, whatever it was,” Hern\u00e1ndez told me. “They play good baseball. They don\u2019t make a lot of errors. They have a really good bullpen, and their starters are doing their job.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Freddie Freeman is struggling \u2026 (Photo by John Fisher\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n
Including the postseason, Milwaukee has a winning record this year in games in which its opponent scores first. Four of the Brewers\u2019 five wins this postseason have come in comeback fashion, including in Game 2 of the NLCS, when the Dodgers jumped ahead on three different occasions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each time, the persistent Brewers offense responded, teetering the Dodgers\u2019 dynasty with every swing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of Milwaukee\u2019s latest fusillade Monday night, the stillness inside the visiting clubhouse, and the blank stares ahead following a 7-4 loss, might have spoken louder than the words of optimism.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s still a lot of series left,” Muncy said. “We\u2019re still a really good team. We can easily go out there and win three or four in a row.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2026 as is Max Muncy. (Photo by John Fisher\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n
That was supposed to start Monday night, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Losing Game 1 wasn\u2019t staggering. On Sunday, the Brewers countered defending two-time American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal with National League Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski. Given the depth advantage the Dodgers have in the rotation, it was a game Milwaukee had to have.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Game 2 was a different story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Dodgers, after all, were turning to their October star, Yamamoto, against a rookie in Milwaukee\u2019s Logan Henderson. Split the road trip, and they would head home in fine shape.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only, even the reigning World Series MVP couldn\u2019t save them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It was tough, but he\u2019s a human being, too,” Mookie Betts said. “I think everyone is so used to him being a robot that if he didn\u2019t go eight innings with no hits or whatever, then it wasn\u2019t Yamamoto.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a bad outing. (Photo by John Fisher\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n
Even half of that would have put the Dodgers in better shape.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yamamoto had won each of his last five playoff appearances entering Game 2, including a complete game against the Brewers in last year\u2019s NLCS, and had a 1.42 postseason ERA dating back to last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had handled the Brewers effortlessly during the regular season, beating them both times he faced them and allowing a combined two runs over 13 innings of work, and was coming off a career-high, 10-strikeout performance in Game 1 of the NLDS.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s arguably no pitcher in Major League Baseball that a team would feel more confident winning a game in October than Yamamoto.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Which made the result so stupefying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even Yamamoto, the latest victim of “Brewer Ball,” struggled to explain it. He needed 75 pitches to record eight outs before departing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I don\u2019t know the exact reason yet,” Yamamoto said through his interpreter. “I need to check the videos, and then I can reflect on what happened today.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Dodgers looking to regroup in Los Angeles. (Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) <\/p>\n
“He just didn\u2019t have it tonight,” added Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And, for the second straight night, neither did the Dodgers\u2019 bats.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s hard to win games when you only get three hits,” Freeman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Through two games, they\u2019ve been outhit, outpitched and, perhaps most surprisingly, outhomered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve still yet to go deep in the series, while a Brewers team that ranked last in the National League in home runs has homered twice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shohei Ohtani is nowhere near being effective. (Photo by Aaron Gash\/MLB Photos via Getty Images) <\/p>\n
The Dodgers\u2019 four-time MVP, Shohei Ohtani, looks completely out of sorts, their starting pitching advantage has been neutralized, their bullpen is losing the relief battle and the Brewers\u2019 relentless offensive barrage continues to overwhelm opponents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Dodgers haven\u2019t lost a postseason series since their 2023 debacle. They were pushed to the brink each of the last two Octobers and found a way out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But if they want to make history, becoming the first National League team ever to win three straight championships, time is running short.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These Brewers don\u2019t look fazed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The mindset can\u2019t really change,” Betts said. “We can\u2019t add more pressure. There\u2019s already enough as it is.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Major](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791889692_343_MLB.vresize.200.200.medium.0.png\")
MLB Related Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD (Milwaukee) \u2013 The scene was understandably quiet in the visiting clubhouse Monday night, save for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":880747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[230413,8965,2323,13090,3963,2325,363,370040,3956,99,4706,4289,8963],"class_list":["post-880746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-event_recap","tag-freddie-freeman","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-max-muncy","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-los-angeles-dodgers-vs-milwaukee-brewers-10-12-2026","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-sports","tag-tarik-skubal","tag-teoscar-hernandez","tag-yoshinobu-yamamoto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}