Brewers 2, Dodgers 1 – 2026 NLCS Game 1: Brewers got the big hit that evaded the Dodgers all game

Chad Moriyama 10/11/2026 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

A rematch of last year’s NLCS, the 2026 NLCS between the Dodgers and Brewers began in Game 1 with an elite matchup between aces Tarik Skubal and Jacob Misiorowski. The Dodgers were the team that grinded out a run first to take a lead, and the Brewers used the long ball to knot things up in the middle innings. The Brewers then did things their more usual way playing small ball to take the lead against Skubal, and the Dodgers didn’t have an answer. They grounded into three double plays tonight after doing so just once in the whole last series, and simply couldn’t come up with the hit when they needed it as the Brewers pen emphatically slammed the door on them in a 2-1 loss for the Dodgers.

Well, guess it’s on Yoshinobu Yamamoto again.

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It’s rare to say another team has the advantage when Skubal is going, but Miz was arguably the best pitcher in baseball this season, so the game was something close to a coin flip on paper.

That said, the Dodgers did a great job against Miz with their approach in order to work deep counts and create stress, which got him out of the game early. Meanwhile, Skubal started off on fire, but started to falter in the middle innings.

Miz struggles but limits damage better than Skubal

Miz started rather ideally in the 1st with a 12-pitch inning. Brice Turang started the game with a nice play ranging to his right to rob Mookie Betts of a single, then after Freddie Freeman went oppo for a single to left, Will Smith grounded into a double play to retire the side in order.

The 2nd was a completely different story, as Shohei Ohtani started the frame with a four-pitch walk. Teoscar Hernandez followed by poking a full-count pitch to right for a single to put a pair on. Miz then challenged Max Muncy with fastballs and struck him out, but Andy Pages followed by poking a groundball single to right to score Ohtani and make it 1-0 Dodgers.

The rally didn’t end there, as Kyle Tucker had a remarkable at-bat, drawing a 10-pitch full-count walk to load things up. However, that was killed off when Enrique Hernandez hit the seventh pitch of his at-bat for a 6-4-3 double play. Still, it was 35 pitches for Miz.

Miz did bounce back in the 3rd after giving up a single on another full count to Mookie, following that by getting a pair of strikeouts and a flyout over a 22-pitch inning. Another inning, another lead-off single in the 4th, this one from Teoscar. Miz rebounded with another strikeout of Max, and then got Pages to flyout. However, he then balked a runner into scoring position after Teoscar seemingly got picked off trying to get a huge jump, but Tucker struck out to end that chance.

After that 16-pitch effort, he was at 85 pitches and the Brewers pen was getting warm during that 4th. After Miz got a flyout to start the 5th, he walked Mookie on seven pitches and that was all for him: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 94 Pitches.

Unfortunately, his line stayed at just one run because DL Hall entered in relief and induced a double play from Freddie on four pitches, their third of the game.

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For Skubal, he struck out two in a 15-pitch 1st frame, with the only drama being Enrique Hernandez bobbling a grounder before recovering for the out. The 2nd saw a chance for the Brewers, as a three-pitch strikeout was followed by a double from Andrew Vaughn was advanced to third on a groundout, but a strikeout shut that chance down and it took just 14 pitches.

The 3rd saw him cruise through a clean frame on just 11 pitches, but after falling behind Turang 2-0 to start the 4th, he drilled a sinker to center for a solo shot and the game was tied at 1-1 just like that.

A strikeout, single, and double play ended the rally at just 15 pitches, but the damage was done (Will Smith also burned a challenge).

The 5th was the real mess for Skubal, who started with a lead-off walk of Garrett Mitchell, who was promptly sacrificed to second by Cooper Pratt. It took all of one pitch for that to pay off, as Luis Lara jumped on a first-pitch changeup for a single up the middle to score Mitchell and make it 2-1 Brewers.

The Brewers then avoided a double play on a groundout as Lara was going with the pitch and got to second safely. Jackson Chourio then continued the rally on a grounder to third that Max Muncy couldn’t handle for an infield single that was closer to an error. Turang followed by drawing a walk to load the bases, but Skubal managed to get William Contreras to flyout to right to prevent disaster.

It was a 26-pitch frame that ended up knocking him out after just five: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K, 81 Pitches.

Both pens slam the door on offense

The Dodgers pen started with Alex Vesia in the 6th, and he started by issuing a seven-pitch walk to Jake Bauers. However, he was picked off by Vesia for the first out, and he followed that with a pair of strikeouts for a clean frame on 16 pitches. Next up was Evan Phillips in the 7th, who struck out the side on 15 pitches. He started the 8th to get Chourio, but he singled on the second pitch of the inning and Dave Roberts went to Tanner Scott.

Surprisingly, Turang squared and sac bunted to advance Chourio to second. Dave Roberts then issued an intentional walk to Contreras, and Scott struck out Jake Bauers for the second out. Dave then issued another intentional walk, this one to Andrew Vaughn to get a matchup against Mitchell, and while it seemed insane it did work out as a groundout ended that rally.

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Taking over for the Brewers pen was Abner Uribe in the 6th, and he gave up a one-out single to Shohei Ohtani and a two-out single to Max Muncy that cornered the runners. However, his 15th pitch of the inning was a strikeout of Andy to get out of another jam.

Aaron Ashby was next up in the 7th, getting a clean frame on 15 pitches that included only a minor scare on an Enrique flyout to the track in center. He continued in the 8th, giving up a one-out walk on four pitches to Will Smith, but took just 11 pitches for another scoreless frame.

The 9th was given to Trevor Megill, who started by getting two outs on five pitches (Contreras burned a challenge). However, Tucker drew a seven-pitch walk on a full count, and then Josue De Paula hit for Enrique and drew a five-pitch walk to move the tying run to second. Tommy Edman ran for him, but it didn’t matter, as Mookie flew out to center on a 1-0 fastball that he really should’ve done better with.

A bunch of ways to cope after this result — Miz not an auto-win, got looks at their best relievers for later, they created traffic — but in the end the Brewers won in a way that probably wins them the series. That’s what matters for now.

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So the Dodgers drop the NLCS opener to the Brewers, who take the 1-0 advantage. Thankfully, Game 1 is less key in a seven-game series as teams do have three mulligans now, but obviously it puts a lot of pressure on the Dodgers to win tomorrow or risk immediately being in a world of hurt.

Game 2 will (unfortunately, IMO) be three hours earlier at 11:00 AM HT/2:00 PM PT/5:00 PM ET with the same two teams at the same place and still on FOX and FS1. It’ll be Yoshinobu Yamamoto looking to continue to add to his playoff legacy against Logan Henderson looking to establish one.

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