Brilliant Brewers reach first World Series since 1982 as Dodgers blow 4-0 lead

Jake Bauers started the Brewers’ comeback with a two-run double and Garrett Mitchell hit a go-ahead home run to deliver a 6-4 victory ⁠over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday and send Milwaukee to their first World Series appearance in 44 years.

Bauers added a bases-loaded walk to tie the game in the ⁠fifth inning as the Brewers ⁠rallied from an early ​four-run deficit to sweep the National League Championship Series in four games. The dominating performance came after Milwaukee were swept out of the NLCS by Los Angeles ⁠last season.

“We got down early tonight and we were like, it’s going to be a great story,” Brewers veteran Christian Yelich said. “We’re going to come back and win this. Like, stay together, start chipping away. And that’s exactly what they did.”

Catcher William Contreras guided the Brewers’ pitching staff in a bullpen game, and four pitchers held the Dodgers scoreless over the final seven innings. JoJo Romero tossed two innings, and Aaron ⁠Ashby handled the final three frames for his second save of the postseason.

“Playing with that chip on our shoulder,” Ashby said. “You don’t ever know what to expect going into a series like that last year. You don’t know how bad it can be, and then it was as bad as it was. And we came out and we survived, and we came back this year, and those guys played their tails off.”

The Brewers will open the World Series at ​home on 23 October against the winner of the ‌American League Championship Series between ‌the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays. The Guardians hold a 2-1 lead after winning 3-2 on Thursday.

Milwaukee made ‌their only previous World Series appearance as an AL team in 1982, falling in seven games to the St Louis Cardinals.

Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer in his return to the leadoff spot but also struck out three times while playing with knee and biceps discomfort that will be addressed in the offseason.

Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow gave up four runs on three hits and two walks over 4.1 innings. He struck out six. Tanner ‌Scott gave up Mitchell’s go-ahead home run in the sixth inning.

“I’ve always dreamt of moments like these as a kid,” Mitchell said.

The Dodgers appeared to be all business in the second inning when Andy Pages delivered a one-out RBI single and Ohtani added ​a towering three-run blast with two outs for a 4-0 advantage.

Bauers continued his impressive series in the fourth inning with a two-run ground-rule double to cut the Milwaukee deficit in half.

David Hamilton cut the Dodgers’ lead further when he made it 4-3 in the fifth inning with an RBI single, ending Glasnow’s night. Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips subsequently loaded the bases with two outs on a pair ⁠of walks. Alex Vesia replaced Phillips and walked Bauers on four pitches to tie the ​game.

Milwaukee went up for good in ​the sixth at 5-4 when Mitchell, ​a Southern California native and UCLA alumnus, greeted Scott with a leadoff home run.

The Dodgers wasted ​a one-out double from ‌Kyle Tucker in the ​sixth inning and a leadoff ​double from Pages in the seventh. Another double combined with an error in the eighth put Will Smith on third base as the tying run with one out. Ashby then retired Tucker on a shallow fly ball and struck out Teoscar Hernandez to end the threat.

Hamilton sealed the victory with a two-out home run in the ninth inning against Edwin Diaz. Hamilton had just four homers in the regular season.