2025 National League Championship Series

2025 National League Championship Series

Los Angeles Dodgers 93 - 69 in the NL	4 -0 Series Summary	Milwaukee Brewers 97 - 65 in the NL

Overview[edit]

The Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Milwaukee Brewers in four games the 2025 National League Championship Series, in a series completely dominated by the Dodgers' starting pitchers. The four starters gave up a combined total of two runs in 28 2/3 innings in the series, with all four pitching at least into the 6th inning, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching the first postseason complete game in eight years in Game 2. But the greatest performance was that of Shohei Ohtani, who won the NLCS MVP Award, who not only did not give up a run in six innings in Game 4, but also had a three-homer game, for one of the greatest one-man performances ever seen in any major league game - postseason or otherwise.

The two teams had met before in the NLCS, that coming in 2018, when the Dodgers had also come out on top but it had taken them the full seven games to do so. Having reached the World Series in four of the previous eight years and being the defending major league champions, the Dodgers were considered the favorites, even though they had finished behind the Brewers in the league standings. The better record gave the Brewers home field advantage, but it them little good as they lost the first two games at home before moving on to the West Coast.

The Teams[edit]

Managers: Dodgers: Dave Roberts | Brewers: Pat Murphy

Dodgers

Brewers

Umpires[edit]

John Libka, James Hoye (crew chief), Adam Beck, Vic Carapazza, Chad Fairchild and Mark Ripperger

Gabe Morales was the reserve umpire for Game 1 and entered the rotation as home plate umpire in Game 2

Series results[edit]

Game	Score	Date	Starters	Time (ET)
1	Los Angeles Dodgers 2 Milwaukee Brewers 1	October 13	Blake Snell (1-0) Aaron Ashby (0-0)	8:08 pm
2	Los Angeles Dodgers 5 Milwaukee Brewers 1	October 14	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0) Freddy Peralta (0-1)	8:08 pm
3	Milwaukee Brewers 1 Los Angeles Dodgers 3	October 16	Aaron Ashby (0-0) Tyler Glasnow (0-0)	6:08 pm
4	Milwaukee Brewers 5 Los Angeles Dodgers 1	October 17	Jose Quintana (0-1) Shohei Ohtani (1-0)	8:08 pm

Results[edit]

Game 1 @ American Family Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	7	0
Brewers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0
WP: Blake Snell (1-0); LP: Chad Patrick (0-1); SV: Blake Treinen (1)
Home Runs: LA - Freddie Freeman (1)

Attendance: 41,737

Game 1 was a game dominated by pitching, but it also featured one of the most unusual plays seen in postseason baseball in years. In the end, a third straight outstanding start by Blake Snell led to a third postseason win for him this year, as the Brewers did not score until the bottom of the 9th and were never able to catch the Dodgers after they scored first in the 6th, finishing with just two hits on the night. They went with a bullpen game once again, having done so twice in the previous round, with Andy Ashby as the opener and Quinn Priester in the role of bulk man, and while it went better than most attempts at the strategy, it was their inability to generate any offence against Snell that doomed them.

Ashby started the game by walking Shohei Ohtani, but he retired the next three batters he faced in order before turning the ball to Priester to begin the 2nd. Meanwhile, Snell got six straight outs to start things off. Priester walked Max Muncy with two outs in the 2nd, but without consequence, and Caleb Durbin led off the bottom of the 3rd with the first hit of the game, a single off Snell. That did not lead to anything either, as Durbin was caught stealing with one out, and Snell completed his first three innings having faced the minimum number of batters. Things got interesting in the 4th when Teoscar Hernandez drew a lead-off walk, and Freddie Freeman hit a ball sharply to left field which Isaac Collins managed to catch near the wall. Will Smith and Tommy Edman both followed with singles, loading the bases, then Muncy hit a ball to deep center field. Chaos ensued. It looked like the ball would fall for a grand slam, but CF Sal Frelick went back to the wall, jumped and got his glove on the ball. It bounced off his glove but he caught it before it hit the ground. The umpires signalled "no catch" as the ball had glanced off the wall after first bouncing out of Frelick's glove, but the runners were confused. Hernandez went back to tag instead of simply racing home, and Frelick's throw to the plate via cut-off man Joey Ortiz preceded him - and because it was a force play, he was out. The other runners had either stayed put (Edman at first base) or raced back to their original base (in Smith's case), as they seemingly did not realize the ball had not been caught. Seeing this confusion, C William Contreras jogged towards third base, and when he touched it himself, Smith was out as well, since the force was still on. While confusion reigned in the ballpark, the Dodgers appealed for a video review, but nothing changed: it was a valid double play, as the relay home had barely beaten Hernandez, and it was the other runners' fault that they had not advanced. So the situation had gone in a matter of seconds from a potential four runs, to one or two, to none. Such a freakish play could have sunk the Dodgers, but luckily for them, they had Snell on the mound, and he was completely unfazed, giving up nothing in both the 4th and the 5th.

The Dodgers had another scoring opportunity in the 5th, but they squandered it again. This time, Kiké Hernandez led off with a double to left off Priester, but he couldn't advance when Andy Pages hit a grounder to short for the first out. The Brewers then elected to give Ohtani an intentional walk. Mookie Betts hit a hard ground ball to second, but Brice Turang cut it off and started a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning, a more run-of-the-mill twin killing than the 8-6-2-2 variety the inning before. The Dodgers finally got on the board in the 6th against Chad Patrick. After one out, Freeman lifted a ball sky high towards right field. Jackson Chourio went back to the wall and for a moment thought he had a chance to catch it, but it landed on the bullpen roof, well beyond his reach, for a solo homer. And that would be the only scoring until the 9th, even though the next two batters reached against Patrick and Jared Koenig had to be summoned to get the final two outs of the inning. Snell was once again perfect in the bottom of that inning and in the 7th as well. In the 8th, with Trevor Megill pitching for Milwaukee, Freeman doubled with one out, but he was stranded. Snell pitched the 8th as well and he got three more outs in order, not having allowed a baserunner since Durbin's 3rd-inning single, and having faced the minimum of 24 batters in his eight frames. His numbers for the night: 8 innings, 1 hit, 0 walks and 10 strikeouts for a game score of 90. Thankfully, the silliness of thinking a pitcher could not face hitters for a third time was now left forgotten in the mothballs of the pandemic.

The Dodgers finally added an insurance run in the 9th, and it would come in handy it turns out. Muncy drew a lead-off walk against Abner Uribe, then went to second on a single by Kiké Hernandez. Andy Pages was mired in a deep slump, but at least he was able to deliver a sacrifice hit, advancing both runners. As they had done in the 5th inning, the Brewers then issued an intentional walk to Ohtani. That loaded the bases for Betts, but he worked a walk, as he had done against Jhoan Duran of the Phialdelphia Phillies in exactly the same circumstances at a critical venture in Game 4 of the Division Series. That forced a second run across. Uribe then got Alex Call, pinch-hitting for defensive substitute Justin Dean, to pop up for out number two, and ended the inning when Freeman flew out to center. Dave Roberts now called on his newly-minted closer, Roki Sasaki, to end the game. Sasaki got Durbin to pop up for the first out, but walked Collins. Jake Bauers pinch-hit for Ortiz and hit an automatic double to center. He was replaced by pinch-runner Brandon Lockridge, representing the tying run. Chourio followed with a sacrifice fly to center, cutting the lead to 2-1, with Lockridge advancing to third as well. Roberts now called on his embattled closer, Blake Treinen, to get the last out. It was a bold move given Treinen had been completely ineffective so far in the postseason, leading to Sasaki taking over his former spot, but tonight the move worked - albeit just barely. Treinen first walked Christian Yelich, putting the potential winning run on base, then in turn walked Contreras as well, loading the bases. A hit would have given the Brewers a win, but Treinen managed to strike out Turang to end the game, that only coming after Turang had instinctively dodged away from a pitch that was about to hit his knee - and which would have tied the game had it done so. Baseball is a game of inches, they say.

Game 2 @ American Family Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dodgers	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	5	11	1
Brewers	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	1
WP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0); LP: Freddy Peralta (0-1)
Home Runs: MIL - Jackson Chourio (1); LA - Teoscar Hernandez (1), Max Muncy (1)

Attendance: 41,427

The story of Game 2 was Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He may not have been quite as impressive as Blake Snell had been the night before, but he was plenty good enough, as after giving up a home run on his first pitch of the game, he completely shut down the Brewers and ended up recording the first complete game in the postseason in eight years. The Dodgers quickly erased the Brewers' short-lived lead, with a homer of their own in the 2nd, then scored another run in that inning and never looked back, adding three more tallies before the night was over. Freddy Peralta did not pitch badly, but in a second straight game in which his teammates failed to generate anything at the plate against the Dodgers' starting pitcher, he would have needed to be perfect. As a result, the Dodgers were heading home with a commanding lead in the series.

Peralta started the game well enough, prolonging Shohei Ohtani's deep slump by striking him out to start the game, then after a walk to Mookie Betts, he retired both Freddie Freeman and Will Smith to end the inning without damage. Then, on Yamamoto's first pitch of the game, a four-seam fastball that Jackson Chourio was doubtless anticipating, the Brewers took the lead for the first time in the series as the ball made it over the right-center field wall. However, Yamamoto settled down immediately and induced three ground balls to complete the inning. Milwaukee's lead barely lasted: in the 2nd, with one out, Teoscar Hernandez crushed a pitch to deep left field to tie the score. But things did not end there as after a second out, Kiké Hernandez singled and Andy Pages followed with a rare hit for him, a double to right, and Kiké crossed the plate with the go-ahead run.

The Brewers continued to put men on base over the next few innings, but it was always one per inning, and the Brewers were continually unable to take advantage, as hardly any ball was hit hard. For example, an errant throw by 3B Max Muncy in the 2nd allowed Andrew Vaughn to reach first base, but he was immediately forced out by Sal Frelick and the Brewers stranded the runner; in the 3rd, Caleb Durbin singled with two outs, to no avail; in the 4th Frelick singled with two outs but got no further; and in the 5th Joey Ortiz coaxed a walk with one out with no adverse consequences. Meanwhile, Peralta was pitching well too, giving up an automatic double to Tommy Edman with two outs in the 4th and hitting Pages with a pitch in the 5th, only to see Pages erased in a double play. The Dodgers started to build a cushion in the 6th, however, when with two outs Muncy hit a ball to the exact same spot as his bizarre double play fly ball of Game 1, except this time it was hit maybe a foot further and beyond Frelick's grasp, falling for a solo homer. That was the end for Peralta, who gave way to Abner Uribe. Teoscar Hernandez hit a ball off Uribe's leg, which the pitcher managed to field, and his off-balance throw would have retired Teoscar too had it been just a tad more precise. Instead, it was ruled a single and an error, but it did not lead to a run as Uribe struck out Edman for the third out.

The Brewers needed to respond, but the bottom of the 6th was the first inning they went down in order against Yamamoto, who threw nothing but strikes, forcing the Brewers to swing at his pitches and hit the ball weakly. There had been maybe two or three well-hit balls all evening by then - Chourio's lead-off homer and two "at 'em" balls. His performance may not have been as spectacular as Snell's, who struck out batters left and right, but it was equally as effective. In any case, the Dodgers continued to build their lead, with another run in the 7th and one in the 8th as well. The first one was the result of a lead-off double by Kiké Hernandez off Uribe, a sacrifice bunt by Pages, and a single by Ohtani off Aaron Ashby. The second came on a lead-off single by Smith off Tobias Myers, followed by a walk, a ground ball out, and a single by Edman. Meanwhile, Yamamoto retired the side in order in the 7th and again in the 8th, giving him 11 straight batters retired since the walk to Ortiz in the 5th. The only question was whether he would be allowed to pitch the 9th as his pitch count was nearing 100. The Dodgers came close to adding another run in the top of the inning as Robert Gasser hit Betts with a pitch, then allowed a double to Freeman and issued an intentional walk to Smith to load the bases with nobody out. However, he struck out Muncy for the first out, then Grant Anderson got Teoscar Hernandez to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. Yamamoto did return for the 9th, and he made it 14 straight batters retired with another 1-2-3 inning. He finished the remarkable evening having thrown 111 pitches - 81 of them for strikes - and allowing just 3 hits and a walk, striking outs seven. There was nothing overpowering about him, but it was dominance nonetheless.

Game 3 @ Dodger Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brewers	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	1
Dodgers	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	x	3	5	1
WP: Alex Vesia (1-0); LP: Jacob Misiorowski (0-1); SV: Roki Sasaki (1)
Home Runs: none

Attendance: 51,251

The Dodgers took a stranglehold on the Championship Series with another win in Game 3, this one at home in a late-afternoon game at Dodger Stadium, where the bright sun and creeping shadows were the biggest story in the early innings. They got another strong performance from their starting pitcher, this time Tyler Glasnow who went 5 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on three hits, although it was reliever Alex Vesia who received credit for the win. They did have to use their bullpen for more than one inning, a first in this series, but the four pitchers who were called upon, starting with Vesia and ending with Roki Sasaki who recorded his third save of the postseason, all did the job. For their part, the Brewers once again decided to go with an opener, with "Everyday" Aaron Ashby being once again the man designated for the job, having been named only hours before game time. He failed to complete the 1st inning and gave up a run before Jacob Misiorowski came in as the bulk man and did a very good job before tiring in the 6th. The strategy of systematically having recourse to an opener was not working particularly well for the Brewers, but they were sticking with it any way.

Glasnow walked William Contreras with two outs in the 1st, but did not give up anything else otherwise, while Ashby was in trouble from the first batter he faced. Shohei Ohtani may have been in a deep slump, but on a 1-2 count, he lunged at a pitch well outside the strike zone and pulled it towards the right field corner. He immediately sensed extra bases, and with Jackson Chourio having trouble cutting off the ball, he made it safely into third base to put immediate pressure on Ashby. On his next pitch, Mookie Betts hit a line drive to right field, with Ohtani scoring easily and Betts ending up on second. The Dodgers could have run away with the game at this point, but Ashby managed to strike out Will Smith for the first out, and then after he walked Freddie Freeman, Misiorowski came in to pitch. He had been slated to be the bulk man in any case, so he was already getting ready to pitch when the inning started, but the Brewers would have preferred that he start a clean inning in the 2nd, and not come in with two on and just one out in the 1st. However, he was excellent, striking out both Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernandez to end the inning with the deficit just 1-0. The Brewers then replied immediately, something they had failed to do in the first two games. With one out, Caleb Durbin hit a line drive to left field, on which Kiké Hernandez attempted an ill-advised diving catch (he was nowhere close enough to catch the ball), so Durbin ended with a triple instead of a double had Kiké simply played the ball off the wall. Jake Bauers followed with a single through the drawn-in infield, and the game was tied. Bauers then stole second and Glasnow made a poor pick-off attempt at second. the ball ending up in center field, advancing the runner to third base. However, Joey Ortiz then hit the ball to third, and Bauers must have been slow reacting, as he was easily thrown out at home, even though 3B Max Muncy had to slide to stop the ball, then get up before throwing to Smith, but his throw still beat Bauers by a good margin.

The 1-1 score would remain for a while, as both pitchers took advantage of what were increasingly tougher conditions for hitters because the late afternoon sun was creating very stark shadows that made it hard to see the ball. The two teams combined for only a single and a walk until the end of the 5th. Conditions were getting better in the 6th, however, and the hitters took advantage. With two outs in the top of the inning, Andrew Vaughn drew a walk, which prompted Dave Roberts to summon Vesia to face lefty Sal Frelick. Vesia struck him out to end the inning, but the Dodgers scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the frame. Smith singled with one out and Freeman walked. Edman followed with a single to center which scored Smith and moved Freeman to third base. L.A. now had a 2-1 lead and it marked the end for Misiorowski, replaced by Abner Uribe. He struck out Teoscar Hernandez for the second out, but then attempted to pick off Edman at first base, but his throw escaped from Vaughn, and Freeman was able to score an important insurance run. Uribe then got Muncy to ground out, but Milwaukee was now down 3-1, with only three turns at bat left.

The good news for Milwaukee was that they were now facing the Dodgers' relievers, who were clearly their weak link, but they were unable to take advantage of this. Durbin did hit a lead-off double against Vesia in the 7th, but the Brewers did not attempt any strategy to move him along, and by the time Blake Treinen got the last two outs of the inning, he was still on second base. The final out was costly as Chourio, one of Milwaukee's most dangerous hitters all postseason, apparently aggravated a pre-existing leg injury while fouling off a pitch with two strikes. Blake Perkins had to complete the at-bat, although his strikeout was charged to Chourio, whose return for Game 4 was now doubtful. Uribe and Jared Koenig, in to face Ohtani, took care of the bottom of the 7th for the Brewers, but they were unable to do anything against Anthony Banda in the 8th, with the middle of their batting order going down without a hitch. So the 9th inning was a repeat of Game 1, with Sasaki coming in to nail down a 3-1 lead. This time, he did not let the Brewers build any hope however: Vaughn grounded out, Sal Frelick popped up and Durbin struck out, as Milwaukee's final nine batters all made outs. The Dodgers were now one win away from returning to the World Series.

Game 4 @ Dodger Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brewers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	5	0
Dodgers	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	x	5	9	0
WP: Shohei Ohtani (1-0); LP: Jose Quintana (0-1)
Home Runs: LA - Shohei Ohtani 3 (3)

Attendance: 52,883

The Dodgers completed their sweep of the Brewers with another great performance from their starting pitcher, but tonight Shohei Ohtani was not only superlative on the mound: he had one of the greatest individual all-around performances ever seen by a major league player as he combined six shutout innings on the mound with a three-homer game. Two of the homers were absolute moonshots, among the longest ever hit at Dodger Stadium, and his night's work made everyone forget the fact he had been in a bit of a slump until then in the series (although he was still drawing walks and driving in the occasional run). He was named the winner of the NLCS MVP Award, an honor that really went without saying. The Brewers started a real starting pitcher against him for once, with José Quintana getting the assignment, but it didn't change their luck. Neither did Jackson Chourio's return to the starting line-up after leaving Game 3 with what looked like a serious leg injury; he was hobbled, but was still one of his team's best hitters - although that's not saying much as the Brewers were unable to get anything going against Ohtani's pitches.

The game was basically decided in the 1st inning. Ohtani walked the lead-off hitter, Brice Turang, on six pitches, but then struck out the next three men he faced. He would end up with three walks and ten strikeouts on the night. In the bottom of the inning, Ohtani led off with a monster homer that traveled 446 feet to right field. Mookie Betts followed with a single as did Will Smith, and the Brewers were quickly sinking into a myre. Quintana struck out Freddie Freeman for the first out, but Tommy Edman followed with a single - already the Dodgers' fourth hit of the game - and Betts scored while Smith advanced to third. Teoscar Hernandez then hit a grounder to first base, and while he was out, Smith scored, making it 3-0. The Brewers were in deep trouble, given that had only scored one run in each of the first three games. Quintana got Max Muncy to fly out to right field to end the inning, but the countdown to the final out had already begun.

Ohtani's gem was not the same as Blake Snell's in Game 1 as the Brewers did actually manage to get a runner on in most innings. The problem was that the occasional walk or hit was always an isolated event, and was never followed by anything resembling a rally. For example, a lead-off walk to Blake Perkins in the 3rd was followed by a strikeout and a double play grounder; and a lead-off double by Chourio in the 4th was followed by a ground out and two strikeouts. Meanwhile, Ohtani drew a walk in his second plate appearance in the 2nd, and in the 3rd, the Dodgers chased Quintana with a pair of singles by Smith and Freeman to open the inning. Chad Patrick came in and got the next three outs. He was doing fine until with two outs in the bottom of the 4th, Ohtani came up again and blasted another monster homer, this one travelling 469 feet to right center. By the time the 6th inning ended, the Dodgers were up 4-0 and Ohtani had retired the last nine batters he had faced in order. He returned for the top of the 7th, but the first two men he faced both reached base, Christian Yelich on a walk and William Contreras on a single. That was the end of Shohei's night as a pitcher, but he remained in the game as the designated hitter, thanks to a bespoke rule created for him a few years earlier. Alex Vesia was the first relief pitcher for the Dodgers, and he got pinch-hitter Andrew Vaughn to pop up for the first out, then forced Sal Frelick to ground into an inning-ending double play. Then, in the bottom of the inning, Ohtani's turn to bat came up again - and he made it three homers with a shot to center field. This one "only" traveled 427 feet and it put the exclamation mark on one of the greatest nights any baseball player has ever experienced. The Brewers avoided being shut out when Caleb Durbin doubled off Blake Treinen to lead off the 8th, stole third base, and scored on a force out. Anthony Banda was on the mound by then, recording the final two outs of the 8th, and Roki Sasaki came in for the 9th. He gave up a lead-off single and then retired the next three batters to end the game and send the Dodgers on to their fifth World Series in nine years.