MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers overcame three separate deficits to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Monday at American Family Field, taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series as it shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday night.
Los Angeles grabbed the lead three times in the first six innings, and Milwaukee answered each time. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was chased after recording just eight outs, the shortest postseason start of his career, after Jake Bauers battled him for 12 pitches with two outs in the third — a plate appearance lasting more than seven minutes — and drew a walk on a 3-2 curveball in the dirt before Christian Yelich followed with a go-ahead single. After the Dodgers moved ahead again in the fifth, William Contreras tied the game with a 436-foot home run to straightaway center field off reliever Kris Bubic and then laced a go-ahead single to left an inning later.
The result leaves the two-time defending champion Dodgers empty-handed after throwing their two aces, Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in Games 1 and 2 in Milwaukee. The Brewers and Dodgers entered the NLCS as two 100-plus win juggernauts on a summer-long collision course for the National League pennant, and Milwaukee has countered every punch through two games.
History favors the Brewers from here. Teams holding a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven postseason series have gone on to win 79 times in 95 tries, an 83% clip. Only 16 teams have rallied from 0-2, including two in the past three seasons — the Toronto Blue Jays against the Seattle Mariners in the 2025 ALCS and the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2023 NLCS.
Milwaukee handed its late lead to a lockdown bullpen, which protected the advantage to close out the seesaw win. The Brewers now bring control of the series to Los Angeles, building on Brice Turang's homer and glove that lifted Milwaukee in Game 1 as they look to tighten their grip on a trip to the World Series.