The New Truths Revealed After Dodgers vs. Brewers NLCS Game 2, Guardians vs. Rays ALCS Game 1

Behind a monster performance from catcher William Contreras and great work from their bullpen, the Brewers defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 in Game 2 of the NLCS on Monday. Milwaukee now leads 2-0, and the series will shift to Dodger Stadium.

Before an off day for the NLCS on Tuesday, let's look at some new truths revealed after two games as the Brewers try to unseat the two-time defending World Series Champions.

(This story will be updated after ALCS Game 1 with notes on the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays.)

Yoshinobu Yamamoto Is Mortal

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Curt Schilling, Madison Bumgarner, Andy Pettitte—whoever you think the greatest postseason pitcher in MLB history is —Yoshinobu Yamamoto became their peer after winning the 2025 World Series MVP.

He's still a peer, but Monday evening was definitely a bump in the road. With the Dodgers needing him to be a stopper after a Game 1 loss, Yamamoto lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing four hits, walking two and surrendering three earned runs.

The third inning for the Brewers was a masterclass in making an opposing starting pitcher use bullets:

• David Hamilton led off with a single on the sixth pitch of his at-bat.
• With one out, Brice Turang drew a walk on the sixth pitch he saw.
• Conteras flew out to center field with runners on first and second, but only after making Yamamoto throw seven more pitches.
• The cherry on top was a 12-pitch at-bat from Jake Bauers, who ultimately drew a walk to load the bases.

With the bases loaded, Milwaukee captain Christian Yelich singled to center, driving in two runs and sending Yamamoto to the showers.

Yamamoto still has a remarkable 2.47 ERA over 12 career postseason outings. But for at least a day, he seemed mortal.

William Contreras Is Becoming the Star of This Postseason

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The aforementioned Yamamoto was the biggest star last postseason. Contreras appears to be coming for the crown in 2026.

Contreras entered Game 2 hitting .316 this postseason, and had another big performance Monday. The previously mentioned value of his seven-pitch at-bat in the third inning in wearing out Yamamoto, despite it ultimately ending in an out. Sandwiched around that were a first-inning RBI single, fifth-inning solo homer and sixth-inning RBI single and eighth-inning walk:

Recent history suggests the Brewers could trade Contreras in the offseason, since 2027 will be his contract year. In the meantime, though, he's been key in getting the Crew to within two wins of their first World Series appearance since 1982.

Shohei Ohtani Might Just Be a Non-Factor

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This may end up on Old Takes Exposed. After all, Ohtani is arguably the greatest player in MLB history. It's probably a mistake to underestimate him.

At the same time, while a left knee injury seemed to be the key reason he ended his season as a pitcher, a shoulder injury seems to be affecting him even more right now. He went 0-for-4 in Game 2, striking out twice. FOX's John Smoltz has pointed out multiple times that Ohtani seems non-competitive on pitches up in the zone right now because of his shoulder. These are pitches you're used to seeing Ohtani hit 460 feet. Instead, he's late on them.

It's really, really hard to win back-to-back World Series titles. The Dodgers did that, even though Ohtani was less than 100 percent in the first of those two October runs. But he hasn't homered since Aug. 18, and the Dodgers seem much less like a juggernaut when you don't have to worry about Ohtani hitting every mistake into the second deck.