MLB

Milwaukee Brewers go up 3-0 on Los Angeles Dodgers

MLB playoffs

LOS ANGELES -- Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell hit back-to-back homers off Blake Snell to regain the lead in the seventh inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 on Wednesday to take a 3-0 lead in the National League Championship Series.

The Dodgers had just taken a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth before getting stunned. The loss pushed the two-time defending World Series champions to the brink of elimination. They had only trailed 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series once previously in franchise history, getting swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1966 World Series.

Game 4 is tonight at Dodger Stadium.

Coming into the seventh, Snell had retired 14 in a row. The first pitch of the game thrown by the two-time Cy Young Award winner was a home run by Jackson Chourio, and his last pitch was Mitchell's solo shot.

Andrew Vaughn drew a seven-pitch walk to open the inning and was replaced by pinch-runner Christian Yelich. Bauers followed with a 412-foot shot to right field on the 11th pitch of the at-bat for a 3-2 lead as most of Milwaukee's dugout came onto the field to celebrate. Mitchell was next and his drive traveled 428 feet to right-center, chasing Snell.

Snell gave up four runs and four hits in six innings, struck out nine and walked two.

The Brewers are on the verge of sweeping the Dodgers in what would be a reversal of last year's NLCS, when the Dodgers eliminated Milwaukee in four games. The Brewers have never beaten the Dodgers in three previous postseason series.

The Brewers extended the lead to 5-2 on Justin Wrobleski's wild pitch that scored Brice Turang, who reached on an infield single to third and moved up on William Contreras' single in the eighth. They added another run on Joey Ortiz's two-strike RBI single in the ninth.

Early start in AL

CLEVELAND -- The Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians have a common opponent with the American League Championship Series shifting to Progressive Field for the next three games.

Mother Nature.

Game 3 in the best-of-seven series today was changed to a 1 p.m. start because of the threat of rain in Cleveland during the evening. Major League Baseball moved up the start time five hours Wednesday to keep the series on schedule.

It might not be the only time weather throws both teams a curveball, either. Friday's forecast calls for rain all day.

Game 4 on Friday remains scheduled to start at 6 p.m., and the first pitch of Game 5 on Saturday is slated for 8 p.m.

The ALCS is tied 1-all after the Rays' 3-1 victory at home Tuesday night. Cleveland took the opener 7-3 on Monday.

"I think MLB did the right thing. They felt likelier that we were going to get rain in the mid-to-late afternoon tomorrow. So let's move the game up and try to bank as many dry innings as possible. Coming off an off day probably helps a little bit," Rays manager Kevin Cash said Wednesday.

Tampa Bay flew into Cleveland after Tuesday night's game. The Guardians elected to stay in Florida overnight before flying back Wednesday morning.