SAN DIEGO — Well, here we go again, it’s the Milwaukee Brewers against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Small market vs. big market.
David vs. Goliath.
The Brewers earned their second consecutive National League Championship Series date against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 3-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night, winning the best-of-five NL Division Series, 3 games to 1 at Petco Park.
The victory snapped the Brewers’ 12-game postseason losing streak dating back to 2018, tied for the longest in MLB history. It was just their second victory on the road in a clinching game in franchise history.
The fact that the Brewers were able to secure the division title victory without needing a Game 5 could be huge for their hopes to unseat the two-time
defending World Series champion Dodgers.
They now will be able to line up Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski in Game 1 Sunday at American Family Field, meaning that he will be on a week’s rest Sunday, and can come back and start a potential Game 5 or 6.
And unlike a year ago when they were emotionally spent after knocking off the rival Chicago Cubs, and were swept without leading a single inning, they’ve got four days to sober up, and prepare for the Dodgers.
The Brewers, who have become postseason regulars, are more than ready, trying to return to the World Series for the first time since 1982, and win their first championship in franchise history.
“I think these guys feel a responsibility to the city, to the fans, to the state,’’ Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I think they've taken on all that, and they've heard enough chatter. I've said it from the beginning, and I'm not making an excuse, the postseason is crucial, but it can be a crap shoot sometimes as we've witnessed. …
“Sometimes it's daunting when you have a young club and you have a club that has taken on those expectations. It's also kind of fun to see them come through it."
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On this night, once they began their celebration on the field, they just needed to exhale.
Until Wednesday, every game was decided by just one run, with no team having a lead larger than two runs. The Brewers outscored them by a combined 13-10.
Every game was decided in the ninth inning, and even on this night, Manny Machado came within just a foot or two of hitting a game-tying home run in the eighth inning that was snared over the center-field fence by Garrett Mitchell.
“Just the level of play, the level of intensity for each pitch, and just the quality of baseball,’’ Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick said. “It just felt like it was back-and-forth, respond, respond, respond. It's fun playing that kind of baseball."
The Padres’ vaunted bullpen, who was without All-Star setup Adrian Morejon with shoulder fatigue, just ran out of gas in this series. The Padres staff struck out only one batter, Christian Yelich in the seventh inning.
The Padres’ offense also was shut down, managing just three hits against left-handed starter Robert Gasser and the Brewers bullpen, which gave up just one earned run in the four games.
The Brewers just scored just 13 runs in the four games, but it was enough, playing their brand of little ball, with star left Jackson Chourio driving in six of the runs.
“I just like the team aspect,’’ Frelick said. “It's not like each inning we come in and say, I hope someone's going to come in and hit a homer this inning and we'll get on the board.’ It's really 1 through 9. It's just finding a way to get on base, and that then switches over to how do we move them up to the next base, whether it's a bunt or a steal or a run. It's like how can we get this guy in?
“It's fun playing in those type of lineups. You're not really up there saying we need everyone to try to hit a home run, or three doubles in a row, stuff like that. It's fun to play in those type of lineups.’’
The Brewers, who won a franchise-record 103 games this season, three more than the Dodgers to earn home-field advantage throughout the postseason, believe they’re playing as well as they have all season. Certainly team captain Yelich, their longest-tenured player, has gotten hot at the right time. He snapped his postseason drought of failing to drive in a run in 87 plate appearances in Game 3, and went 5-for-14 with two stolen bases in the series.
“This is a tremendous dude that is so committed to the game,’’ Brewers manager Pat Murphy said, “in kind of a real healthy way. It's just the person that he is [that] just jumps out at you. It's an example-type thing. He doesn't bully anybody. He doesn't try to say this is the way we do it here. He's just not that way. So everybody feels welcome. …
“And he works at the game and cares a lot. You don't have to be around him very long to know how much he cares. And how much he carries, you know what I mean? He really carries it with him. It's really, really kind of cool.’’
Now, for the third time since 2018, the Brewers are in the NLCS, each time facing the Dodgers.
This is the year, they believe, they finally knock off the game’s greatest goliath.
“I think there's a different level of confidence in this group,’’ Mitchell said, “and it's not with outwardly showing something. It's just that belief. We've been here before, and we know the group of guys that are in that clubhouse.
“I think that this year we have just an unwavering belief in each other and as a group that, if we go out there and do what we do and play our brand of baseball, that we can win any game.’’
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB-best Brewers get another shot at Goliath in NLCS rematch against Dodgers
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