LOS ANGELES — Milwaukee Brewers star Jackson Chourio stunned the Dodger Stadium crowd on Wednesday, crushing the first pitch of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series for a leadoff home run. The center-cut 97.6 mph four-seamer from Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell went to right-center to open the game in Los Angeles.
The blast marked the 17th first-pitch leadoff homer in the postseason since pitch counts started being tracked in 1988, and it came one year to the day after Chourio hit a first-pitch leadoff homer in Game 2 of the 2025 NLCS. He joined George Springer as the only players with two such homers, while Snell — who also served up a first-pitch home run to Davis Schneider in last year's World Series — is the only pitcher to allow two.
With the homer, Chourio moved into a four-way tie with Shohei Ohtani, Derek Jeter and Jimmy Rollins for the second most postseason leadoff home runs with three, trailing only Kyle Schwarber with five. All other players in postseason history have combined for just one leadoff homer before turning 23, by Ronald Acuña Jr. Chourio also moved past teammate William Contreras for the most career postseason home runs by a Brewer with six, two of which have come this October. It was also the sixth first-pitch homer in the top of the first inning of a postseason game since 1988, joining Schneider (2025 World Series Game 5), Chris Young (2007 NLDS Game 3), Marcus Giles (2001 NLCS Game 2), Jeter (2000 World Series Game 4) and Marquis Grissom (1995 NLDS Game 2).
The swing also made more history before age 23, as Chourio surpassed Schwarber and Hall of Famer Andruw Jones for the most postseason home runs and RBIs, respectively, before turning 23. Chourio has 18 RBIs in 19 postseason games, while Jones collected 17 RBIs in 45 contests. The response was notable against Snell, who held Chourio hitless in three at-bats with two strikeouts in last year's NLCS Game 1 matchup, as the Dodgers stuck with Shohei Ohtani for NLCS Game 3 despite injuries.