ST. PETERSBURG — The Milwaukee Brewers head to Los Angeles with control of their series after winning games started by Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, while the Tampa Bay Rays host the Cleveland Guardians today seeking to even their series at 5 p.m. on TBS/HBO Max.
Milwaukee won more games than Los Angeles in the regular season and goes to Los Angeles knowing it cannot be eliminated there. The Brewers either win the series in Los Angeles or the series will return to Milwaukee. The Dodgers have not looked sharp this postseason, especially on offense, with a playoff OPS of just .591, the worst of the eight teams to get past the wild-card round, despite leading the postseason with eight home runs. The start follows the Dodgers facing a daunting 2-0 deficit against the Brewers at home.
Offense has dropped across the entire postseason. The overall OPS is just .633, the lowest for a postseason since 1983. Pitching usually tightens in October — the postseason OPS has been below .700 in four of the past five years — but this year has brought a spectacular drop-off.
The lone game today is Cleveland Guardians at Tampa Bay Rays, with Cleveland leading 1-0. Tampa Bay is seeking to even the series after an unexpected meltdown by its bullpen yesterday.