MILWAUKEE (AP) — William Contreras hit a tying homer in the fifth and singled home the go-ahead run an inning later as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 on Monday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
Four relievers combined to retire the last 15 Dodgers batters in order as the Brewers took a 2-0 lead over the two-time defending World Series champions in this best-of-seven series, which heads to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday.
The Brewers are chasing their second pennant and first in the NL. They made their lone World Series appearance in 1982, when they were in the American League.
Los Angeles is trying to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series. The Dodgers last rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win a series in 2020, when they beat the Atlanta Braves in a seven-game NLCS before going on to win the World Series.
The Dodgers will need more punch from their lineup to have a chance at getting back to the Fall Classic. They mustered just three hits Monday and went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position to drop to 2 for 26 in those situations this postseason.
Los Angeles couldn’t even get a boost from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who entered 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career playoff appearances. Yamamoto lasted just 2 2/3 innings for his shortest postseason start.
The Dodgers took the lead on three occasions in the first five innings. Milwaukee responded each time, the last coming when Contreras tied the game with a 436-foot homer to center off Kris Bubic in the fifth.
That turned the game into a battle of the bullpens, where the Brewers again had the edge.
Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby combined to shut down the Dodgers after Logan Henderson’s early exit.
GUARDIANS 7, RAYS 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Nathaniel Lowe hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the eighth inning, Chase DeLauter and Patrick Bailey hit solo homers off Drew Rasmussen, and Cleveland beat Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
Junior Caminero and Jonny DeLuca had RBI singles in the first off Foster Griffin and Cedric Mullins hit a solo homer for the Rays, who never trailed in a sweep of the New York Yankees in their AL Division Series.
Game 2 is Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. Rookie lefty Parker Messick starts for Cleveland, and right-hander Freddy Peralta takes the mound for the Rays.
Five relievers combined for five innings of one-run, two-hit ball for the Guardians, who became only the 11th team to overcome an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five playoff series with a victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
Cade Smith, who pitched in all five games against Chicago, tossed a perfect ninth.
Rasmussen took a 2-0 lead into the sixth before DeLauter led off with an opposite-field homer to left-center. Bailey started the seventh with a towering shot to center that went an estimated 436 feet, ending Rasmussen’s night.