Bradford DoolittleOct 15, 2026, 11:13 PM ETCloseMLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com Former NBA writer and analyst for ESPN.com Been with ESPN since 2013Multiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsLOS ANGELES — For the first time since 1982, the Milwaukee Brewers are headed to the World Series.Garrett Mitchell hammered a go-ahead sixth-inning solo homer off Dodgers lefty Tanner Scott as Milwaukee capped a rally from a four-run deficit against the Dodgers on Thursday. Milwaukee beat the Dodgers 6-4, completing a National League Championship Series sweep of the two-time defending champs.The next stop for Milwaukee is one it hasn’t made since the heyday of Robin Yount, Paul Molitor and Cecil Cooper — the Fall Classic against either the Cleveland Guardians or Tampa Bay Rays.In was just under a year ago that the roles were reversed and the Dodgers swept Milwaukee en route to a championship. This marks the first time in postseason history that a team has swept an opponent that swept it in the preceding season.The win gives the Brewers their first National League pennant, as Milwaukee was still a member of the American League when it went to its only previous World Series 44 years ago. The Brewers were the only one of the 15 current NL franchises that had never won a pennant.The Brewers checked that box and now an even bigger one looms: Milwaukee will have a shot to leave the group of five active MLB franchises without a championship.It looked as if the Brewers’ long wait would endure for at least another day early in the contest when slumping Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani launched a 428-foot three-run homer off righty Dustin May, giving the Dodgers a 4-0 lead.But these Brewers are, among other things, relentless.
Milwaukee plated four runs to tie the score, all charted to Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow, who was dominant during a perfect first trip through the Milwaukee lineup.There were no big blasts in the Brewers’ rally. William Contreras and Jake Bauers stroked back-to-back ground-rule doubles. There were five walks and two stolen bases. It was, in other words, precisely the style of play that allowed the Brewers to roll up a franchise-record 103 wins during the regular season.
However, the Brewers showed that when needed, they could muscle up, outhomering the powerful Dodgers 7-1 over four games.Once Milwaukee had seized the lead, manager Pat Murphy was able to unleash a high-leverage bullpen contingent that has been all but impenetrable during the Brewers’ 7-1 run through the National League bracket.David Hamilton’s solo homer in the ninth off Edwin Diaz gave Milwaukee a late insurance run.JoJo Romero threw two scoreless innings and Aaron Ashby worked out jams in the seventh and eighth on his way to a three-inning save. Jackson Chourio made a fine leaping grab on an Enrique Hernandez fly ball for the final out. The Brewers raced from the bullpen, dugout and all the positions on the field to gather in a euphoric group hug 44 years in the making.With the win, the Brewers ended a four-decade pennant drought and exorcised the demons stemming from NLCS losses to the dynastic Dodgers in 2018 and last season. And the Dodgers’ quest for a historic three straight titles came to an end.Now the Dodgers head into a longer-than-expected winter, while the Brewers will try to win the franchise’s first world championship.
The World Series begins Oct. 23 with the first-ever Fall Classic game at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
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