Dodgers 5, Brewers 1 – NLCS Game 7: THE DODGERS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES AGAIN

Chad Moriyama 10/20/2018 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

In the 2018 NLCS, the Dodgers and the Brewers decided to gift baseball fans all across the world with a Game 7. The Dodgers were playing for back-to-back trips to the World Series, while the Brewers were playing for their first trip to the Fall Classic since 1982.

Home runs told the story of Game 7, as the Dodgers got behind early after a Brewers homer, but then came back with power of their own from Cody Bellinger and Yasiel Puig. That proved to be enough in the end, as the much-maligned bullpen continued their absolutely massive series by shutting things down in a 5-1 win.

WORLD SERIES HERE COME THE DODGERS

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Walker Buehler took the mound for the Dodgers, and after he pitched so well in big moments down the stretch, Buehler struggled in his two postseason starts thus far. Things looked like they might continue after Christian Yelich greeted him with a homer in the 1st to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.

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However, he definitely settled down from there, and that ended up being the only run he would surrender in 73 pitches and 4.2 innings.

While he gave up six hits, he walked nobody and generally wiggled out of trouble with the strikeout, of which he had seven.

Julio Urias was an … interesting decision to try and escape the two-out jam in the 5th, and he required Chris Taylor to bail him out with a reaching play in left to prevent any damage.

Meanwhile, Jhoulys Chacin started for the Brewers, and all they wanted from him was a clean few innings. While he faced the minimum in the 1st, he ran into trouble in the 2nd almost immediately. With a 3-2 count, Manny Machado surprised basically everybody by squaring around to bunt after Chacin tried to quick pitch him, and arguably just as surprising is that Manny was successful.

That was immediately capitalized on by Bellinger who annihilated a fastball into right-center field for a 2-1 lead.

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Puig continued the 2nd inning rally with a double down the line in right, but in more typical Dodger fashion was stranded there to end the frame.

That was the end of the road for Chacin, as Craig Counsell turned to Josh Hader in the 3rd, and he started by cruising through a 1-2-3 frame. Hader then faced the minimum in the 4th, as he allowed a single but that was erased on a double play. In the 5th, he issued a walk that was eventually bunted to second, but finished with a scoreless frame after the Dodgers couldn’t take advantage.

Fortunately, that was all for Hader as the Brewers hit for him in the 5th since they were chasing a run. That proved to be a pivotal moment in the game. Xavier Cedeno was brought in to matchup against Max Muncy, but Muncy grounded a single through a hole the other way for a single. That brought in Jeremy Jeffress, and he immediately was greeted by a single from Justin Turner. With one out Bellinger grounded to second and managed to avoid a double play to put runners on the corners, and then he stole second without a throw. Thankfully that didn’t end up mattering much, as Puig hammered a curve that was off the plate away to center for a massive blow on a three-run shot and put the Dodgers up 5-1.

John Smoltz was absolutely fucking miserable and it made this even better.

Jeffress got through the 6th, and started the 7th with an out, but was removed after surrendering an infield single. Corey Knebel was then brought on and made sure the Dodgers couldn’t tack on any more.

Ryan Madson took over in the 6th for the Dodgers and continued his improbable run of dominance, getting a 1-2-3 frame in the 6th and then starting the 7th with two outs before giving up a single. In a somewhat surprising move, Dave Roberts went to Kenley Jansen early, but he got a strikeout on four pitches to move things along. Kenley continued on in the 8th, getting a 1-2-3 frame on 11 pitches via a ground out and two strikeouts. He looks … well, like Kenley.

Brandon Woodruff got the 8th for the Brewers and he did it by striking out the side in order. The 9th was far more difficult for him, as he allowed an infield single to Puig and then a single to left by Taylor that ended up putting runners on second and third with nobody out after Puig drew a throw. However, Austin Barnes grounded out to short with the infield in and Puig arguably cost the team a run by not going home. Matt Kemp then pinch-hit but was intentionally walked to load the bases, but Enrique Hernandez and Muncy both struck out, because of course they did.

That left things up to Clayton Kershaw to close the game out in the 9th and he saved us the dramatics, carving through the lineup in 1-2-3 fashion to send the Dodgers back to the World Series.

After this gigantic messy turd of a season at times, look at where they’re headed now. Back-to-back World Series appearances ain’t bad, huh? Please win it at all this time.

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