Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Monday afternoon was a must-win for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite the widespread perception that the Dodgers are the unbeatable superteam, it was Milwaukee, the team that finished with the best record in the league, that played essentially flawless baseball in a Game 1 victory. While Jacob Misiorowski was not his typical dominant self, every time Los Angeles had a chance to break the game open, “The Miz” and his team’s defense clamped down. Already with one run in the second inning, the Dodgers had the bases loaded with postseason star Kike Hernández at the plate. Once again, the Brewers defense was perfectly positioned to hit the double play that ended the inning. After Milwaukee’s offense put up two runs against Tarik Skubal, its bullpen continued its remarkable streak of success, working 4.2 scoreless innings to secure the victory. Yet despite all the hype about Los Angeles’ remarkable rotation, Milwaukee’s BABIP (batting average in play) machine once again revved up to secure a massive 2-0 series lead and put the three-peat Dodgers’ hopes on life support with a 7-4 victory. Los Angeles jumped out to an early lead thanks to an unusual sloppiness by the Brewers. Mookie Betts walked, Freddie Freeman moved him to second and took third on a wild pitch from starter Logan Henderson. Teoscar Hernández dropped him with a sacrifice fly and the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead without a hit. However, Sure enough, Milwaukee immediately tied it in the bottom of the first. The Dodgers missed a chance to challenge an obvious blown three-strike call on Brice Turang, who then doubled and scored on the Brewers’ patented bloop single. William Contreras brought out his bat with one hand, somehow making contact with Yamamoto’s pitch to launch it to left field. It wouldn’t be the last time. Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras celebrates his home run during the fifth inning of Game 2 of the National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) The third inning was about to repeat itself. Los Angeles mounted a quick comeback with consecutive singles by Tommy Edman and Mookie Betts. Sal Frelick robbed Freddie Freeman of a double with a nice catch in the right-center field gap, but an error on a pickoff attempt at first base led to Edman scoring. But the Brewers, knowing that the Dodgers’ greatest weakness is having the opportunity to score runs, had them right where they wanted them. Easy outs by Teoscar Hernandez and Shohei Ohtani ended the “threat,” and Milwaukee responded in the bottom of the inning. David Hamilton drove in another single, stole second, and once again Brice Turang reached base on a missed strike three that went unchallenged by catcher Will Smith. Jake Bauers, one of the worst hitters in baseball before he put on a Milwaukee uniform, walked after a long at-bat against Yamamoto, and Christian Yelich made him pay with a single to center. After all of these playoff heroics in 2025, Yamamoto worked just 2.2 innings, allowing four hits and three runs. Failed challenges, botched singles, exceptionally timely lines from below-average hitters, Milwaukee’s ideal offensive output. Now trailing 3-2, the Dodgers “struggled” in the fifth. Kyle Tucker led off with a double, before a throwing error by Henderson on a bunt by Tommy Edman allowed him to score and sent Edman to second. A groundout and a sacrifice fly gave Los Angeles a 4-3 lead, once again without a hit with runners in scoring position. CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE Milwaukee Brewers designated hitter Christian Yelich runs after hitting a two-RBI hit during the third inning of Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) Sure enough, William Contreras immediately tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a mammoth home run to left-center field. The seemingly unhittable Brewers bullpen turned in another scoreless inning before Milwaukee’s superteam once again hit its stride in the bottom of the sixth. Hamilton reached on a hit by pitch, advanced to second after a poor pickoff attempt, went to third on Jackson Chourio’s groundout and scored on the other end of Contreras’ bat. Once again, the Brewers’ relief pitchers proved to be the best pitching unit ever assembled, extending their streak to nearly 29 innings with just one run allowed. Monday marked the first time in playoff history that a team’s bullpen went more than five innings in a postseason game without allowing a runner. JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, Aaron Ashby, DL Hall… that’s the real super team, and it cost about $17 to build it. THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW: UNFILTERED, UNAPPOLOGIZED AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD YOUR DAILY PODCAST NOW! The BABIP continued into the eighth, when David Hamilton hit a 73 mph single to right field, stole second, and scored on another 71 mph single by Brice Turang. That hit pushed the Brewers to 5-12 with RISP. Jake Bauers added another 73 mph single to put Milwaukee within 6-13 with RISP. In some ways, Milwaukee has perfected the art of hitting singles with poorly hit balls in play. Some might say it’s a skill, but decades of data and information have told us it’s not. Players and teams with low exit velocities do not perform better with the batting average of balls in play, in fact, it is quite the opposite. The league leaders in hard hit percentage this season were, in order: James Wood, Elly De La Cruz, Pete Alonso, Yordan Alvarez, Shohei Ohtani. All five had BABIP at or above league average, Wood and De La Cruz were .344 and .359, respectively. Jac Caglianone was eighth in hard hit percentage and second in baseball in BABIP. Hitting the ball hard is a skill, soft contact is not. However, the Brewers have three hitters in the top seven in BABIP anyway. SUBSCRIBE TO OUTKICK’S DAILY NEWSLETTER Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang celebrates his RBI hit during the eighth inning of Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) Does it matter that Milwaukee has been lucky this season? Not at all. A playoff series is the epitome of a small sample size, and reversion to the mean doesn’t have to occur in five to seven games. Contreras could hit 17 errors in a row with the tip of the bat, because that’s baseball. That’s why predictions of a guaranteed Dodgers World Series win because of his talent were always so ridiculous. OUTKICK IS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE FOX NEWS APP: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD Milwaukee had more hits with runners in scoring position in this game, not a single hard hit, than the Dodgers did in the entire postseason. And they return to Los Angeles with a 2-0 series lead and an overwhelming chance of advancing to the World Series. The gaps between teams in baseball are so small that a bounce here or there, a team’s ability to magically ensure 71 mph errors are placed perfectly despite not having the ability to do so, can change a playoff series. David Hamilton, who is objectively a terrible baseball player, reached base four times and scored two runs. Shohei Ohtani, the greatest player in baseball history, was useless. That’s not unusual or unexpected, it’s part of the sport. That is why it is impossible for a team to guarantee anything. Will the “ruining baseball” crowd care about this? Of course not, reality never does. Ian Miller is a writer at OutKick.
