Brewers show they aren't afraid of anybody, not even Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in NLCS Game 2: '1 through 9, they come to play'

On their way to a 2-0 lead in the NLCS, the Brewers had to face the best big-game pitcher in the sport, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Dodgers’ ace entered the game Monday with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career postseason games. When you consider what Yamamoto has accomplished in his Dodgers career in both the regular season and postseason, you could say this was arguably Milwaukee's biggest challenge yet.

The Brewers have said all postseason that the player or team across the field isn’t going to stop them from competing, and while that’s easier said than done, they backed it up against Yamamoto. It was clear that the Brewers' relentless offense had a plan of attack, grinding every at-bat against the 2025 World Series MVP, and it worked immediately.

The Brewers made Yamamoto throw 25 pitches in the first inning, capped by catcher William Contreras’ RBI single that tied the game at 1. And that was just a taste of what Milwaukee had in store.

“You got a pitcher like Yamamoto, and feel like the game plan is just trying to have long at-bats,” third baseman David Hamilton said postgame. “Trying to have good at-bats, string some stuff together, and you know, never know where that takes you.”

Said Brewers manager Pat Murphy of his offense: “I’m not not shocked because I know, 1 through 9, they come to play.”

The at-bat in Game 2 that most encapsulated who the Brewers are as an offense came from Jake Bauer. Bauers, who finished third in MLB in on-base percentage this season, knows how to be patient. With Yamamoto laboring and his pitch count ratcheting up, Milwaukee's first baseman was looking to provide a different type of knockout blow.

“That's a great pitcher,” Bauers said. “He executes well. There's not a lot to do damage on when he's on the mound.”

With two on and two out in the third inning, Bauers worked a full count through the first five pitches of his at-bat, and then the real battle began. Yamamoto dropped the next six pitches in all four quadrants of the zone to try to get Bauers to swing and miss, but to no avail. The first baseman fouled off every one, keeping his at-bat and the Brewers’ rally alive. Not only that, but he was simultaneously igniting his dugout and the home crowd.

“It just got to a certain point where it was straight compete mode,” Bauers said. “A little bit of like blackout, just kind of in the flow, a little bit competing. … It was a fun at-bat. I knew that was a moment where the guys needed something, the team needed something.”

“The deeper the at-bat got, I knew he was getting on,” said designated hitter Christian Yelich, who was in the on-deck circle at the time. “Whether it be by hit or walk, whatever it may be. I was just getting ready for my at-bat and being up there in whatever situation.” 

On the 12th pitch of the at-bat, Yamamoto dropped a curveball in the dirt, and Bauers took it confidently. And as he flipped his bat in celebration, the crowd and dugout erupted.

This was no ordinary walk. It was one that lit the fuse on Milwaukee’s offense. Yelich wasted no time after that, lacing a two-run single to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead.

With that, the Brewers did the unthinkable: They chased Yamamoto from the game after just 2 2/3 innings. It marked the Dodgers right-hander’s shortest start of the season. What’s more, eleven of the 14 hitters he faced saw at least four pitches as he tossed 75 in total. 

From that point, the Brewers put their foot down on the gas and didn’t look back. Every at-bat the rest of the game had a similar feeling and approach: Hand the baton to the next guy. No matter if their defense made a miscue or the Dodgers got a run on the board, the Brewers just kept attacking. 

“We beat ourselves a little early in the game, would get up, get behind. It was just like a lot of self-inflicted wounds,” Yelich said of early errors that helped the Dodgers plate a few runs. “It was a credit to the guys — kept grinding, kept giving ourselves opportunities, scoring opportunities, and people kept coming up with big hits or big at-bats, just grinding and working walks, getting on base.”

In total, the Brewers’ hitters forced L.A. to use eight different pitchers, and they had success against nearly all of them, scoring seven runs on 12 hits in the game. They’ve also gotten strong production from throughout their lineup, as Turang, Contreras and Hamilton each reached base four times and combined to score all seven runs. 

“I think the whole team right now really feels like they're going through a good moment,” said Contreras, who crushed his third homer of this postseason in the fifth inning. “I'm very appreciative of them and the work they've been able to put in and the support we've been able to give each other.”

At this point, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Brewers’ offense is finding so many ways to score. Yes, Milwaukee ranked 28th in baseball in homers in the regular season, but being the second-highest scoring offense in baseball was no accident. And this time around, unlike in the NLCS against L.A. last year, falling behind and making mistakes are just temporary obstacles, not harbingers of a loss.

“It doesn't shock me that we're able to go out there and compete and continue to do what we did in the regular season, scoring in different types of ways,” Turang said.

Added Hamilton: “We've just been doing that all year.”

Milwaukee has also done something no team had done since 2023: Hand the Dodgers a 2-0 series deficit. But as the series moves to L.A. for Game 3 on Wednesday, the Brewers know there’s no time to rest with the reigning World Series champions’ backs against the wall.

“The goal is not to think about where we're at,” Contreras said. “Regardless of where we're going, who we're playing against, the goal is just to focus on doing our jobs and executing our jobs. That's the task at hand.”