William Contreras, bullpen deliver for Milwaukee Brewers in victory over L.A. Dodgers
MLB playoffs
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MILWAUKEE -- Thanks to a couple of big swings from William Contreras, the Milwaukee Brewers need just a couple more wins to earn their first National League pennant and end the Los Angeles Dodgers' championship reign.
Contreras hit a tying homer in the fifth and singled home the go-ahead run an inning later as the Brewers defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 on Monday in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series.
Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby combined to retire the last 15 Dodgers batters in order to give Milwaukee a 2-0 lead over the two-time defending World Series champions in this best-of-seven series, which heads to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday.
"They're going against arguably one of the best teams in baseball ever put togther, and they don't care," said Brewers manager Pat Murphy, whose team was swept by Los Angeles in last year's NLCS. "They won't be denied. It starts with the dude behind the dish (Contreras)."
The Brewers are chasing their first World Series appearance in 1982, when they were in the American League.
Los Angeles is trying to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series. The Dodgers last rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win a series in 2020, when they beat the Atlanta Braves in a seven-game NLCS before going on to win the World Series.
"It's going to be a great series," said Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, whose error in the sixth inning led to the go-ahead run. "They know they've got a lot on their hands, too. We've just got to go out on Wednesday and play better."
The Dodgers will need more punch from their lineup to have a chance at getting back to the Fall Classic. They mustered just three hits Monday and went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position to drop to 2 for 26 in those situations this postseason.
Los Angeles couldn't even get a boost from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who entered 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career playoff appearances. Yamamoto lasted just 2ª innings for his shortest postseason start.
"I think everybody's so used to him being a robot that if he didn't go eight innings, no hits, whatever, it wasn't Yamamoto," Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts said. "It shows he's a human being and it's playoff baseball."
The Dodgers took the lead on three occasions in the first five innings. Milwaukee responded each time, the last coming when Contreras tied it with a 436-foot homer to center field off Kris Bubic in the fifth.
"We just kept going," said Brewers designated hitter Christian Yelich, who drove in two runs. "We kept competing."
That turned the game into a battle of the bullpens, where Milwaukee had the edge. Brewers relievers have allowed one earned run in 28ª postseason innings.
Asked what makes Milwaukee's bullpen so challenging, Freeman offered a simple explanation.
"They all throw 100 (mph) from different angles," Freeman said.
Guards strike first
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Nathaniel Lowe hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the eighth inning, Chase DeLauter and Patrick Bailey hit solo homers off Drew Rasmussen, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night.
Junior Caminero and Jonny DeLuca had RBI singles in the first off Foster Griffin and Cedric Mullins hit a solo homer for the Rays, who never trailed in a sweep of the New York Yankees in their AL Division Series.
Game 2 is tonight at Tropicana Field. Rookie lefty Parker Messick starts for Cleveland, and right-hander Freddy Peralta takes the mound for the Rays.
Five relievers combined for five innings of one-run, two-hit ball for the Guardians, who became only the 11th team to overcome an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five playoff series with a victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
Cade Smith, who pitched in all five games against Chicago, tossed a perfect ninth.
Rasmussen took a 2-0 lead into the sixth before DeLauter led off with an opposite-field homer to left-center. Bailey started the seventh with a towering shot to center that went an estimated 436 feet, ending Rasmussen's night.
Rasmussen took a no-hitter into the eighth in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Yankees.
Hitters winning
NEW YORK -- Batters have been more successful on robot umpire challenges in the playoffs than during the regular season, and teams are utilizing the Automated Ball-Strike System more overall in its postseason debut.
Seventy-one of 121 overall challenges under ABS prevailed during the 25 games of the Wild Card Series and Division Series. The 59% success rate was up from 54% during the regular season. That includes an improvement for batters to 57% (29 of 51) from 49%.
It's not that hitters are necessarily being more conservative, either. Teams are challenging more in the postseason overall, with 4.8 per game compared to 4.3 during the regular season. Batter challenges are up to 2.04 per game from 1.96.
Teams exhaust their challenges when they are unsuccessful twice in the game, so the more times they win appeals the more opportunities they can have.
Catchers had won 60% (42 of 70) of challenges, just above their 59% during the regular season.