I turned to my brother Sunday morning when I remembered to look at the pitching matchup for Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. There it was: Tarik Skubal vs Jacob Misiorowski. A two-time Cy Young Award winning southpaw facing the pre-eminent flamethrower in perhaps the history of baseball who’s also the presumptive 2026 NL Cy Young Award winner. “This could be a good old heavyweight slobberknocker,” I remarked.
And if all you looked at was the final score of Sunday night’s game, you’d
think the two aces lived up to that billing. But the real story, as could kind of be predicted given baseball’s drift away from starting pitchers going deep into games, was the bullpens for both teams. Neither Skubal (5 IP) nor the Miz (4.1) recorded an out in the sixth inning, so both teams deployed their ‘pens to cover a lot of outs in Game 1.
NLCS Game 1
Milwaukee Brewers 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 1
(MIL leads, 1-0)
The Dodgers, looking to steal home-field advantage, struck first Sunday night. But they left a lot of meat on the bone that would have helped them quite a bit.
In the top of the second, Andy Pages, who delivered a key blow to eliminate Atlanta in the NLDS, singled in the game’s first run. Kyle Tucker then walked to load the bases for Kiké Hernández, who had an opportunity to really put Misiorowski and the Brewers behind the 8-ball. Instead, Hernández hit a ball to shortstop that the Brewers’ infield turned into a 6-4-3 double play, extinguishing the threat.
It was one of three twin killings that the Dodgers bounced into in Game 1 as they stranded nine with just the aforementioned Pages single as their own hit with a runner in scoring position.
From there, the Miz settled in for a couple innings, while Skubal kept Milwaukee off the scoreboard. Finally, leading off the home fourth, Brice Turang got Milwaukee on the board. After working himself ahead in the count, Turang demolished a sinker Skubal buried down and in and drove it out to left-center field. Turning around 96-mph is impressive. Having the power to drive that pitch out, facing arguably the toughest lefty in baseball, is even more eyebrow-raising. And it’s not like Turang is a lefty killer, either. For the season, he slugged .313 off southpaws, with a total of three home runs. He chose an excellent time for his fourth.
On the mound, Misiorowski was laboring. The Dodgers worked him hard and, after walking Mookie Betts with one out in the fifth, he was sitting at 94 pitches. Since mid-July, he’d only exceeded that pitch count twice so it was no real surprise when manager Pat Murphy came to collect his ace. Milwaukee’s bullpen was now on the clock. DL Hall was the first one out and he quickly erased Betts and escaped the inning, getting Freddie Freeman to hit into a double play. (You hate to see it.)
In the home fifth, an unlikely hero came through for the Brewers. With a runner on second and one out, Luis Lara singled, scoring the second Brewers’ run of the night and giving them their first lead of the game.
Skubal got through the fifth but that was it for the Dodgers’ prize trade acquisition. LA too turned to a steady stream of relievers. Both teams’ pitchers were up to the task. Three Dodgers combined to hold Milwaukee out of the run column, keeping LA’s deficit at one.
Meanwhile, three Brewers relievers combined to cover 3.2 innings, highlighted by Aaron Ashby’s scoreless seventh and eighth, before turning the game over to closer Trevor Megill. En route to 30 saves in the regular season, Megill cut down on his free passes, ending the year with a career-best 2.2 BB/9. So, of course, after getting two quick outs, Megill walked a pair, putting the go-ahead run on base for Betts.
Mookie took Megill for a ride, driving a ball to center field. The ball sent Garrett Mitchell back onto the warning track but the ball settled harmlessly into his glove to end Game 1, giving the Brew Crew a 1-0 series lead.
For what it’s worth, the team that wins Game 1 in a best-of-seven series in baseball history has gone on to win the series more than 64 percent of the time (127-70). The Brewers are also halfway to protecting home-field advantage, and they’ve already fared better against the mighty Dodgers than they did last year’s NLCS sweep.
The two teams are back at it tomorrow. The Dodgers send playoff superhero Yoshinobu Yamamoto to try for the split in Milwaukee. The Brewers counter with Logan Henderson. First pitch is just after 5pm ET, and Cleveland and Tampa Bay will also kick off the ALCS in the later game (I think I know who we’re all rooting for in that one).
