The Milwaukee Brewers took command of the National League Championship Series on Monday, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 at American Family Field to move one step from the World Series. Milwaukee now leads 2-0, and the game drew 42,516 as the club turned a tense October night into another result that underlined how far this group has come.
Brandon Woodruff said the feeling inside the club is simple: the Brewers are tired of losing in the playoffs. That line lands differently when the team has won 103 games, owns home-field advantage and still entered the series as an underdog. For readers searching Baseball Tonight, that is the story in plain view: Milwaukee has the better record, the better start and the louder momentum, while the Dodgers, who have won two championships in the past three years, are the ones under pressure now.
The way Milwaukee is doing it matters almost as much as the score. David Hamilton scored three runs in Game 2, and his explanation sounded like a blueprint for the series itself: less flash, more execution. He said it feels like college baseball, with bunts, sacrifice flies, longer at-bats and small-ball details that let the Brewers score without waiting on one swing. That is a different look from the home-run style many teams sell in October, and it has given Milwaukee enough offense to keep the Dodgers from settling in.
There is also history sitting behind every pitch. Pat Murphy took charge in November 2023 after Craig Counsell left for the Chicago Cubs, and he has kept repeating the same message: win tonight. The Brewers have been among the game’s best teams for upward of a decade, but they still have not won a World Series title in 58 years of existence. They have also seen this opponent before, beating the Dodgers in Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS before being swept in four games last year.
That is what gives Monday’s win its edge. Milwaukee did not just protect home field. It turned a series that was supposed to tilt the other way into a test the Dodgers now have to solve in Los Angeles. The next swing of the NLCS will tell whether this is the moment the Brewers finally turn control into something lasting, or just another October lead that has to survive one more night.
