10/11/2026 11:43:00
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10/11 23:41 CDT Turang homers and Milwaukee's bullpen delivers as the Brewers
beat the Dodgers 2-1 in NLCS opener
Turang homers and Milwaukee's bullpen delivers as the Brewers beat the Dodgers
2-1 in NLCS opener
By JAY COHEN
AP Baseball Writer
MILWAUKEE (AP) --- Brice Turang had one sweet swing, Luis Lara delivered and
Milwaukee's bullpen was terrific once again.
Looking for a breakthrough, the Brewers are off to a flying start in the NL
Championship Series.
Turang homered off Tarik Skubal and four Milwaukee relievers shut down the Los
Angeles Dodgers after Jacob Misiorowski's taxing outing, sending the Brewers to
a 2-1 victory in Game 1 on Sunday night.
Lara hit a tiebreaking single off Skubal in the fifth inning as Milwaukee
jumped ahead in the first NLCS matchup of 100-win teams since the Cincinnati
Reds eliminated the Philadelphia Phillies in 1976. Milwaukee had dropped seven
consecutive postseason games against Los Angeles, including a sweep in last
year's NLCS.
The Brewers are among five current teams that have never won it all.
"The dream for me is to win the World Series," Lara said through an
interpreter. "That will be the dream moment, is we're able to complete that.
Obviously very happy that I was able to come through and come through for my
teammates."
Game 2 is on Monday in Milwaukee. Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts for the Dodgers,
and Logan Henderson takes the mound for the Brewers.
Los Angeles, looking to become the first team to win three straight
championships since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees, grounded into three double
plays, stranded nine runners and went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position,
dropping to 2 for 22 in the playoffs.
"You can't go into a long series against a team that has the best record in
baseball and expect to just win four," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "It's
going to be a long series. We knew it coming in."
Los Angeles chased Misiorowski, the favorite for the NL Cy Young Award, in the
fifth inning, but managed just two hits against a Milwaukee bullpen that has
allowed one earned run in 23 2/3 postseason innings.
"Those guys are grinding out there," Misiorowski said. "Every day being able to
put up zeros, that's the game. That's the goal. It's amazing what they're doing
and the work they're putting in."
DL Hall replaced Misiorowski with a runner aboard and got Freddie Freeman to
ground into a double play, sending a charge through the rollicking crowd of
42,617. Abner Uribe allowed two hits in the sixth, then struck out Andy Pages
with runners at the corners for the final out of the inning.
Aaron Ashby pitched two innings, and Trevor Megill got three outs for the save.
Kyle Tucker and pinch-hitter Josue De Paula walked with two down in the ninth
before Mookie Betts flied to the warning track in center.
"Miz and their 'pen are about the same," Freeman said. "That's a great pitching
staff. That's two great pitching staffs. Two great teams going at it. It's kind
of what we envisioned."
Los Angeles made Misiorowski throw 35 pitches in the second. Pages drove in
Shohei Ohtani on a grounded single into right field, and Tucker loaded the
bases when he reached on a 10-pitch walk that included four foul balls.
But Misiorowski limited the damage when he got Kik Hernndez to bounce into an
inning-ending double play.
"You didn't see 105 (mph), whatever, but whenever he got in a jam, he got
better," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "His stuff wasn't great, no, it
wasn't, but it's still pretty darn good."
Turang responded with a leadoff drive into the home bullpen in left-center in
the fourth, going the other way on a 95.5 mph sinker inside. It was the second
career postseason homer for Turang, who went 1 for 15 with six strikeouts in
last year's NLCS.
"I didn't want to foul a ball off my knee again, so I was like I'm going to
stay inside of this one," Turang said. "Not try to do too much, just drive back
up the middle and get inside of it.
Sticking with the same brand of baseball that resulted in the majors' best
record this year, Milwaukee went ahead to stay in the fifth. The Brewers have
come from behind in three of their four postseason wins.
Garrett Mitchell reached on a leadoff walk and advanced on rookie Cooper
Pratt's sacrifice bunt. Lara, another rookie, then grounded an RBI single into
center field. The Brewers loaded the bases with two down, but Skubal escaped
the jam when William Contreras flied to right.
"A leadoff walk just can't happen," Skubal said. "A leadoff walk in that
inning, then you give them the ability to bunt the ball over and then all they
need is a base hit, and they got it."
Up next
Yamamoto is 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 postseason appearances. The Japanese
right-hander pitched a three-hitter in a 5-1 victory at Milwaukee in Game 2 of
last year's NLCS.
Henderson is making his second career postseason start. The right-hander tossed
five-plus innings of two-run ball in Milwaukee's 4-3 win over San Diego in Game
2 of their NL Division Series. He went 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA in two starts
against Los Angeles this season.
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