Brewers have Dodgers' Superteam in hopeless NLCS pit, facing its own mortality

LOS ANGELES — The Milwaukee Brewers refuse to say it, and the Los Angeles Dodgers refuse to acknowledge it.

But it’s over.

The Brewers are going to win the National League pennant and reach their first World Series in 44 years.

And the Dodgers’ World Series title run comes to an end.

It will become official as soon as Game 4 on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.

Maybe Friday in Game 5. At the worst, when they get back to Milwaukee.

But this National League Championship Series is over.

The Brewers staged another late comeback, and came away with a 6-2 victory over the Dodgers to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series.

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And only the 2004 Boston Red Sox have ever overcome a 3-0 deficit to win the best-of-seven series.

History won’t be repeating itself, not even with the Dodgers’ manager being the one who helped spark that comeback with a historic stolen base.

So, does Dodgers manager Dave Roberts dare show the video clip of him stealing second base in the ninth inning of that famed Game 3 against the Yankees and closer Mariano Rivera, leading to four consecutive victories?

“Absolutely not, no,” Roberts said, laughing before the game. “Then I’ll lose them. I don’t know if some of those guys even know I played. No, absolutely not.

“When times get tough, I just kind of go the other way and get more lax and have fun with the guys, just want to slow down.”

Well, things are more than tough.

Call it impossible.

The Brewers won a major-league leading 103 games during the regular season, and they’re not about to lose four in a row now.

Next stop, World Series – which they have never won in their 58-year history.

The Brewers are careful not to pop off, let alone pop any champagne bottles, but no matter how carefully they choose their words, they are on the brink of Brewers manager Pat Murphy reading another fictional letter to his team from the late Bob Uecker in their celebration.

“The way I look at it, you’re climbing a mountain, and you’re getting really close to the top,” Murphy said, “and when you are, usually that path narrows a little bit. You know what I mean? It’s not as wide. When you start the mountain, it seems like this wide [spreading his arms].

“I think as you get closer, you’ve just got to keep your footing, keep your head down, and you can’t look too far ahead. When you look up for the prize, “Oh, where’s the top,’ you might step in a crack or a pothole. You’ve got to keep your head down and go forward.

“If you don’t, adversity is coming.”

Well, the only adversity coming to the Brewers will be trying to keep sharp until the World Series begins in eight days in Milwaukee against the winner of the Tampa Bay Rays-Cleveland Guardians series.

This was no fluke.

The Brewers beat the Dodgers in every phase of the game.

The Dodgers’ big advantage entering the series was their starting rotation and their power.

Well, the Brewers’ rotation has out-pitched the Dodgers. Their bullpen has out-pitched the Dodgers, giving up just two runs all series. They hit better in the clutch, with the Dodgers hitting .094 with runners in scoring position.

The Brewers, who hit the second-fewest homers in the major leagues this season, even out-homered the Dodgers, 5-0.

You name it, and the Brewers were better.

The Brewers came into the series confident, and now there’s no doubt in their mind they are the best team in the National League, and perhaps the world.

“The belief had to be there at some point,” Murphy said. “They didn’t just wake up yesterday morning or this morning and say we could do this thing. I think their belief has been there. [Christian] Yelich has spoken openly about it. I think the guys followed the lead. [William] Contreras has spoken openly about it. This is what we’re doing.

“But you’ve got to keep your head down and take each step.”

It’s certainly a far cry from a year ago when the Brewers were swept by the Dodgers in the NLCS, not leading a single inning, leaving Los Angeles with a long, quiet flight home.

“I said, ‘Hey guys, remember this. It hurts, remember it,’” Murphy said. “I think they remembered so far. It seems like they remembered.”

Oh, have they ever, knocking off the San Diego Padres in four games in the Division Series, and now walloping the Dodgers.

The Brewers took command of this game from the first pitch when Jackson Chourio hit a home run over the left-center-field fence off two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell, the first homer he had given up in his 11 starts this season. It was as if the blast performed a jet-stream of cold water on his face. He proceeded to retire 18 of the next 20 batters, including he faced through the first four innings, striking out eight batters. He shut down the last eight batters in order, including 14 in a row.

The lead held until catcher Will Smith, who was in a 1-for-25 skid, hit a two-run double off the center-field wall in the sixth inning for a 2-1 lead.

Snell, now pitching with a lead for the first time, melted down.

He walked Andrew Vaughn to lead off the seventh, and then in another epic at-bat by Jake Bauers, gave up a towering home run on the 11th pitch. Garrett Mitchell followed with another homer. Snell, who had not thrown a changeup to a left-handed hitter all night, watched two clear the fence as Roberts yanked him from the game as boos filled the air.

It was 4-2 Brewers, and with their vaunted bullpen, it was all over, with the non-sellout crowd of 50,708 streaming for the exits.

Oh, what a difference a year makes.

“Yeah, last year ended kind of terribly,’ Vaughn said. “Getting swept in the playoffs wasn’t a good feeling. That definitely wasn’t a fun plane ride home.

“I think it fueled everybody that experienced that last year.”

Now, they will leave Los Angeles with the feeling of euphoria.

They should be departing with the National League pennant.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brewers have Dodgers’ Superteam in hopeless NLCS pit, facing its own mortality