NLCS Recap: Dodgers Lose Game 1 To Brewers

The Los Angeles Dodgers forced Jacob Misiorowski into a short start and took an early lead but ultimately fell to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

The night featured somewhat of a reversal, as it was the Brewers who came up with a home run while mixing in some of their small ball approach as well.

Brewers 2, Dodgers 1: key takeaways from NLCS Game 1

Dodgers make Justin Misiorowski work

Misiorowski flashed plenty of velocity in a quick first inning. He threw a total of 12 pitches, with 11 of them reaching at least 100 mph. After 11 consecutive fastballs, Misiorowski threw a 91 mph slider that got Will Smith to ground into an inning-ending double play.

But the right-hander then started to labor in the second inning. Shohei Ohtani led off with a four-pitch walk and later came around to score on Andy Pages’ RBI single. Misiorowski threw 35 pitches in the second inning, his most in a single frame this year.

Misiorowski was up to 69 pitches through three innings and the Dodgers at that point had 16 foul balls. He worked around a leadoff single in the fourth inning and was removed after walking Mookie Betts in the fifth.

The Dodgers swung and missed on just 18.5% of Misiorowski’s fastballs, which was a far cry from his 40.2% whiff rate during the regular season.

Tarik Skubal

While Misiorowski was grinding through innings, Tarik Skubal breezed his first time through the Brewers’ lineup.He struck out six of the first nine batters faced, though started to fall behind in the count in the fourth inning.

An inside pitch on a 2-0 count was lifted out to left-center field by Brice Turang for a game-tying solo home run. Skubal then issued a leadoff walk in the fifth, which was followed by a sacrifice bunt and Luis Lara’s RBI base hit that put Milwaukee ahead.

Skubal pitched just five innings, marking his first time in eight career playoff starts of not completing at least six.

Double play woes

The Dodgers certainly had their fair share of opportunities, but couldn’t get out of their own way as they hit into three double plays. One of which came with the bases loaded while Misiorowski had his back against the wall.

The Dodgers went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base. Pages has the Dodgers’ only two postseason hits with a runner in scoring position.

Brewers and Packers win

Sunday marked just the second time the Green Bay Packers won at home and the Brewers followed suit in a playoff game on the same day.