The Brewers Aren't Just Beating the Dodgers — They're Rewriting Last October's Sweep

A year ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers ended Milwaukee's season in four straight games. Two games into the 2026 National League Championship Series, the Brewers have flipped the script entirely — and they've done it in the two most different ways a baseball game can be won.

A Duel, Then a Slugfest

Game 1 was the pitcher's game everyone expected. Milwaukee got a short but sharp outing from Jacob Misiorowski — the right-hander who finished the season 16-5 with a 1.80 ERA, a 0.80 WHIP and 252 strikeouts in 174.2 innings — and the bullpen slammed the door on a 2-1 win. The Dodgers never scored after the second inning.

Game 2 was the opposite. Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47 ERA, 0.84 WHIP) squared off with Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a matchup of two right-handers with ERAs under 2.55, and it turned into a back-and-forth affair with both clubs scoring in the first, third and fifth innings. Milwaukee won it 7-4, with William Contreras doing the heavy lifting.

That's the encouraging part for Milwaukee: this team can win a 2-1 squeeze and a 7-4 shootout in consecutive days.

Why Contreras Matters Here

Contreras' season line — .270 with 18 home runs, 27 doubles and 94 RBI over 147 games — reads like a good catcher's stat sheet, not a dominant one. But Game 2 was a reminder of what he is when the calendar turns: a run producer who hits in the middle of the order and doesn't give away at-bats (just 94 strikeouts in 566 at-bats this season). In a series against a Dodgers rotation that will make Milwaukee earn every baserunner, a catcher who both handles a pitching staff and drives in runs is the kind of quiet edge that doesn't show up in a preview.

The Season Series Isn't a Fluke

If the 2-0 lead feels like an upset, the underlying numbers argue otherwise. Milwaukee has now won six of nine meetings with Los Angeles in 2026, including three of four at Dodger Stadium in mid-August. The aggregate margin across those nine games is just 34-32 in Milwaukee's favor — these teams are close — but the Brewers have consistently won the close ones.

They've also been the better team at home, where they've been one of the toughest venues in the National League all season, and they've been the hottest team in baseball recently: winners of eight of their last nine, with a 2.65 ERA and an .813 OPS over their last ten games.

The Depth Question

The one thing that could swing this series is what happens after the starters come out. Milwaukee's bullpen has been solid — a 3.25 season ERA, 9.32 strikeouts per nine and a 1.165 WHIP — but it's a group that has been asked to cover real innings because the rotation behind the top two has thinned out.

Milwaukee is carrying six pitchers on the injured list: Carlos Rodriguez on the 15-day, plus Brandon Woodruff, Quinn Priester, Rob Zastryzny, Angel Zerpa and Brian Fitzpatrick all on the 60-day. Woodruff's absence in particular removes a proven October arm from the equation. The Dodgers have bullpen attrition of their own — Blake Treinen plus six 60-day arms — so this is a shared problem, and it may be the single biggest variable in a best-of-seven.

What It Means

A 2-0 lead doesn't end a series, especially against a Dodgers club that has won back-to-back championships and knows exactly how long October is. But it does change the shape of everything. Milwaukee no longer needs to win a road game to survive; Los Angeles now has to win four of five against a team that has already beaten it six times this season.

For a franchise chasing its first World Series appearance since 1983, and coming off a record-setting regular season, the Brewers have spent two nights proving the last October sweep was a different team entirely.