The Brewers NLCS lead grew to 3-0 on Wednesday night, Oct. 14, 2026, after Milwaukee beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 at Dodger Stadium. The Brewers now stand one win from the World Series, and it would be their first trip since 1982. The Dodgers, the back-to-back defending champions, must win Thursday to keep their season alive.
Home runs from Jackson Chourio, Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell powered the win. Bauers and Mitchell connected on back-to-back swings in the seventh inning, turning a one-run deficit into a lead the Brewers never gave back. Milwaukee’s bullpen then closed the door, holding Los Angeles scoreless over the final three innings.
A first-pitch homer and a Dodgers rally
Chourio led off the game with a home run on the very first pitch, giving Milwaukee a 1-0 lead. The blast came one year to the day after he did the same thing against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 of the 2025 NLCS. That series ended very differently, with the Dodgers sweeping Milwaukee in four games.
After Chourio’s homer, Dodgers starter Blake Snell settled in and took control of the game. He struck out nine and retired 14 straight batters heading into the seventh inning. Brewers starter Robert Gasser matched him, throwing five scoreless innings before handing the ball to the bullpen.
The Dodgers broke through in the sixth. Will Smith lined a two-run double into the left-center gap, giving Los Angeles a 2-1 lead and putting the home crowd on its feet. For a few minutes, it looked like the Dodgers had found a way back into the series.
Bauers and Mitchell flip the game in the seventh
The lead lasted exactly one inning. Bauers battled Snell through an 11-pitch at-bat before hitting a go-ahead two-run homer, and Mitchell followed right away with another shot. Milwaukee scored three times in the inning and took a 4-2 lead.
The Brewers kept adding runs. Joey Ortiz singled home a run in the eighth, and Milwaukee scored once more in the ninth to make it 6-2. The Brewers finished with nine hits to the Dodgers’ five, and Los Angeles went just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Cooper Pratt had three of Milwaukee’s hits.
DL Hall pitched 2⅓ scoreless innings to earn the win, and Trevor Megill collected the save. Snell took the loss after being charged with four runs and three home runs. Brewers manager Pat Murphy called the result “incredible” after the game, according to ESPN’s Game 3 recap.
What the Brewers NLCS lead means for Game 4
Milwaukee can clinch the pennant on Thursday, Oct. 15, at Dodger Stadium. Fox Sports reported that MLB moved the start time for Game 4, so fans should check MLB.com for the updated first pitch. If the Dodgers win, Game 5 is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 16, in Los Angeles. Games 6 and 7 would follow in Milwaukee on Oct. 18 and 19 if needed.
The Dodgers’ lineup has also drawn attention. Los Angeles dropped Shohei Ohtani to sixth in the batting order for Game 3 while trailing 0-2 in the series. Ohtani went 1-for-4 with a walk, and the team as a whole managed only five hits against Milwaukee’s pitching staff. Los Angeles will need far more offense on Thursday to extend the series.
A reversal of last year’s NLCS
The matchup carries plenty of history. In 2025, the Brewers swept the Dodgers 6-0 in the regular season, but Los Angeles answered with a four-game sweep in the NLCS. Milwaukee hit just .118 in that series, the lowest average by any team in a postseason series of at least three games.
This year, the Brewers have reversed that outcome so far. They have won all three NLCS games, including a 7-4 victory in Game 2 on Oct. 12. The Dodgers now need four straight wins against a team that has handled them in every game of the series, while Milwaukee needs only one more to reach the World Series.