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The Los Angeles Dodgers knew coming into the 2026 NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers that advancing further into the postseason was not going to be easy at all. They did sweep the Brewers at this stage of the postseason last year, but this Milwaukee team is even better than last. Now, the Dodgers are staring at a 2-0 hole in the NLCS after the Brewers followed up their 2-1 win in Game 1 on Sunday with a 7-4 victory on Monday in Game 2.
The major concern for the Dodgers is that they lost the two games that their two best starting pitchers in Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto started. Their offense is also on life support; they did score four runs, but that was mostly due to Milwaukee’s defense shooting itself on the foot. They only recorded three base hits on the night, which is simply not good enough if they were to contend for a third-straight World Series title.
Nonetheless, this series is far from over, and the Brewers should know it. Here are three reasons as to why the Dodgers aren’t doomed quite yet even after dropping the first two games of the NLCS.
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Dodgers will get three straight games at home
Since 1924, MLB has used the 2-3-2 format in a best-of-seven series in the postseason to reduce the necessary travel in between games. Of course, transportation systems back then weren’t as developed as they are at present. Nonetheless, MLB continues to use this format, and they’ve done so over the past 100 or so years, with the exception of two World War II-riddled seasons.
This is going to be working in the Dodgers’ advantage at the very least. The Brewers, by virtue of winning 103 games and earning the best record in baseball in 2026, earned home-field advantage, giving them the first and last two games of the series — leaving Game 3, Game 4, and Game 5 to be played in Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers need every advantage they can get at the moment. They barely put up a better record at home (51-30) than they did on the road (49-32) in 2026, but with the margins being razor-thin in the postseason, playing in a more friendly environment could perhaps get their hitters back on track.
For instance, the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts have performed better at home in 2026 than they have away from it. Those two haven’t been at their best in the series quite yet.
Whatever the case may be, playing with your backs essentially being against the wall is difficult enough as it is. Having fans screaming from the top of their lungs in support of you at least eases a bit of anxiety heading into what is looming as the most crucial game of the Dodgers’ season to this point.
LA’s pitching is a cheat code
Skubal and Yamamoto may not have pitched their team to victory in both Game 1 and Game 2. For other teams, losing games in which ace-level starters took the mound would be devastating. But this Dodgers team has such a stacked pitching staff that they shouldn’t feel too anxious about who to throw out there for the upcoming crucial contests.
It’s likely that Blake Snell, who hasn’t pitched since Game 2 of the NLDS, will be starting for the Dodgers in Game 3. Snell put up an ERA of 1.90 in nine starts this season, and he should be fresh for Wednesday night. Snell also has a history of mowing down the Brewers in the postseason; in the 2025 NLCS, he threw an eight-inning gem in their 2-1 win in Game 1, striking out 10 while allowing just one hit.
For Game 4, the Dodgers could opt to start Tyler Glasnow, or they could even ask Skubal to start on short rest. Whatever the case may be, they have the pitching depth to force a long series and even thrive the longer the series goes.
This team has championship DNA
This Dodgers team is full of players with championship experience. They could have faltered last year in the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, being down 3-2 in the series. But they stayed the course, pounced on the Blue Jays’ mistakes and made the necessary plays when it mattered the most — winning their second-consecutive title in the process.
This Brewers team is proving to be yet another tough test — an arguably tougher one than the Blue Jays considering that the team is struggling more this time around. But as long as LA’s opponent hasn’t yet won four games in the championship series, no one should count out a team that has this much pedigree.
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