Brewers vs. Dodgers NLCS Game 4 Live Updates, Results, Highlights and Reaction

They Really Did It All on Offense

It would have been good enough if they had merely out-homered the Dodgers seven to one. Home runs win games in October. The Brewers especially proved that in the last two games, which were won on long balls by Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell.

Yet for good measure, the Brewers also outhit the Dodgers (32-23), out-walked the Dodgers (18-14) and out-stole the Dodgers (5-0). All of those things also mattered, precisely because the Brewers don't let things like that go to waste.

Offensively, it's a perfect balance between hitters making things happen and taking what they're given. The Dodgers aren't the only team that can learn from it.

This Staff Is So Much More Than Just Jacob Misiorowski

Misiorowski is going to win the NL Cy Young Award. He was the most unhittable pitcher in history this season, holding hitters to a record-low .157 batting average. As for how, well, dude's first pitch of the postseason was 105 mph.

Yet Misiorowski has been oddly human in both of his playoff starts, totaling just 8.1 innings with nine hits and four walks allowed. For any other team, having an ace falter like that would be an October death sentence.

Not these Brewers. Misiorowski is the standout, but they have a bunch of guys who throw 100 mph. The rest have some kind of quirk (lots of fastball ride, a biting cutter, etc.) that is liable to give hitters fits.

The bullpen is where the excellence of the Brewers' pitching development is really apparent right now. Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill were not household names coming into this postseason. They are now after pacing Milwaukee's bullpen to a 1.33 ERA.

They Looked Old

To be clear, they are old. The average age of Dodgers hitters in the regular season came out to 30.9 years, almost four years older than the average Brewers hitter.

That age was valuable at times throughout the season, but the Brewers exposed the dangers of it in the NLCS. They just plain went right after the Dodgers with fastballs, collectively averaging 98.2 mph on the heater.

The Dodgers had no answers, hitting .165 with just one home run in the series. And unlike the Brewers, they're just not made to manufacture runs.

Something has to change for them going forward. They need more youth. They need more athleticism. They need… well, whatever's not more of the same.

Going All-In on Starting Pitching Burned Them

If the Dodgers were going to pull off the three-peat, it was going to be because of their rotation. How could anything possibly go wrong between Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow?

Well, all the Brewers had to do was work them as hard as they could. They did. And it worked.

Not one of those four pitched deep into his respective start, forcing the bullpen to take on nearly as many innings (16.0) as the starters (18.0). Relief pitching was never one of this Dodgers team's great strengths, and that got exposed against a Brewers bullpen loaded with nothing but terrifying arms.

The Dodgers need a good, long think about what to do about this. Because even before Tanner Scott and Edwin Díaz each got taken deep in Game 4, simply throwing money at relievers was already on thin ice as a strategy.

Or is that champagne? Or both?

Let's go with both.

He did throw in an "I'm not used to those consolation speeches," which is fair. But for the most part, this is about as much humility as you'd expect from a manager who just watched his team get thoroughly outplayed for four games.

The 37-year-old is done after 13 years in the majors with the Dodgers and Miami Marlins. He'll walk away with two World Series rings, one of which came largely courtesy of his bat. Even now, his "No way!" home run still reverberates.

Happy trails, Miguel. And congratulations on a great career.

For the record, here's how "Last Man Standing" by Bruce Springsteen ends:

Rock of ages lift me somehow
Somewhere high and hard and loud
Somewhere deep into the heart of the crowd
I'm the last man standing now

Yeah, this team has earned that. Nice pull by Pat Murphy.

It's been 44 years, and the Brewers have never actually won the World Series. So, why wouldn't they?

The above comes courtesy of the great Sarah Langs of MLB.com, and there's more where that came from.

The Brewers are the first to pull off a best-of-seven sweep despite trailing in all four games:

And their four-run comeback is the largest ever to clinch a sweep in a best-of-seven series:

Not sure how that's going to go over in the Dodgers' clubhouse. But what's the expression?

Ah, yes. Get good.

Bauers had two of the best at-bats you'll ever see in Game 2 against Yoshinobu Yamamoto and in Game 3 against Blake Snell, both of which were huge turning points in the series. He also drove in seven runs, including two in Game 4.

The award could have just as easily gone to Aaron Ashby, who pitched a total of 6.2 scoreless innings over three appearances. He saved two games, including tonight's game with 3.0 innings of scoreless ball.

But those little smiles say it all, don't they?

If anyone deserved to have a moment in the sun this October, it's Mitchell. It was a hard road here, as he played in fewer games in his first four years (141) than he did this year alone (145) because of injuries.

He's finally gotten to show how good he is when he's healthy. Memories of his home run robbery in the NLDS and his clutch homers in the last two games of the NLCS will live forever in Milwaukee.

This is as told to Tom Verducci, and Yelich would know. This was his third NLCS with the Brewers, and the Dodgers were responsible for losses in the first two in 2018 and 2024.

It's been 1,124 games for Yelich in a Brewers uniform. None bigger than this one.

As the lefty told Ken Rosenthal, he was just "Praying for a little peace in the chaos" while he was out there at Dodger Stadium.

And he was out there a lot. Ashby got the last nine outs for the Brewers to close out the clincher. He's the first pitcher to record a three-inning save in an elimination game since Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS.

It's a clean sweep for the Brewers, who get their revenge and are headed to their first World Series in 44 years.

They leave behind zero doubt about who was the better team in this series. They came back to win all four games, and used all their tricks to make it happen. Tons of baserunners. Clutch hits. Lockdown relief pitching.

The Dodgers' quest for a World Series three-peat is over.

Edwin Díaz just pitched 3.0 innings in a game for the first time in his career, and he only made one mistake. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, that mistake doubled the Brewers' lead.

It'll be Max Muncy, Andy Pages and Enrique Hernández in the bottom of the ninth.

Of all people. Hamilton hit four home runs all year, and he had hurt his back earlier in this series when Freddie Freeman landed on him.

The Brewers, everyone.

A harmless fly by Freddie Freeman started the inning, but then Will Smith poked a 3-2 pitch down the right field line that Sal Frelick mishandled. For the second time in as many innings, the Dodgers had a runner on third and one out.

It didn't matter to Ashby. He jammed Kyle Tucker for a popout, and then got Teoscar Hernández swinging over a nasty breaking ball. William Contreras may have spotted something, as he faked like he was about to receive a high fastball right before the pitch.

The Dodgers are down to their last three outs.

Another clean inning for Edwin Díaz, though Garrett Mitchell gave him a scare with a 111 mph lineout to center for the third out.

Second-to-last chance for the Dodgers coming. They have Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Kyle Tucker due up.

Andy Pages put the Dodgers in the business with a leadoff double, and Enrique Hernández got him to third with a nifty bunt.

The rally promptly fizzled. Ashby got Ohtani on three pitches, and then Betts to ground out on a 2-0 pitch. It was 100 mph on the inner third, and he couldn't get the barrel to it.

Six outs left for the Brewers to get.

I'm half-joking when I say I wonder how the attendance there compares to Dodger Stadium. Half.

He hadn't pitched in over a week, but he looked sharp in setting down Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang and William Contreras in order. It could be an overlooked turning point if the Dodgers can come back.

They'll have to do it against Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill, the best the Brewers have.

A one-out double by Kyle Tucker put the Dodgers in business in their half of the sixth. But then, Teoscar Hernández grounded out and Romero got Muncy to fish at a pitch that was basically in international waters.

The Brewers have nine more outs to get, and they're in the World Series.

Tickets for this game went as low as $72, so the expensive tickets excuse doesn't quite hold up right now.

Also, it's not as if all the empty seats are hard to miss. This isn't just not a sellout. It's not close.

Tanner Scott set down three in a row after the Mitchell home run.

The Brewers bullpen now has a lead to protect. It entered this game with a 0.83 ERA for the postseason.

They've taken off their shoes and one of their socks, and actually I think they're crying.

Sorry, had to do the bit. But if this feels familiar, this is pretty much what the Dodgers did to the Yankees in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series.

For the second night in a row, he takes a lefty for a ride. He had hit two homers against lefties for his entire career before Wednesday!

The Dodgers had a 4-0 lead after Shohei Ohtani awoke with a three-run homer in the second. All that energy is gone now. Dodger Stadium sounds like a funeral home.

William Contreras helped out with a successful ABS challenge. He's 4-for-4 in the game, and this is the second time one of those has aided a strikeout of Ohtani.

Also, just a really good pitch on the outside edge. Romero completed the inning by getting Mookie Betts to ground out and by getting Freddie Freeman to fish at a sweeper in another area code.

Alex Vesia got Christian Yelich to ground to third to end the inning. The collective exhale from Dodger Stadium could power a dang wind turbine.

It's a 4-4 game, and only Dave Roberts has started digging into his leverage relievers.

Only four pitches this time. Alex Vesia was close with none of them.

Dodger Stadium is not pleased. Not pleased at all.

An intentional walk to Brice Turang and an unintentional walk to William Contreras have loaded the bases with two outs. Alex Vesia, the Dodgers' third pitcher of the inning, is coming in to face Bauers.

Does he have another clutch hit in him?

A walk and a stolen base by Sal Frelick, and then an RBI single up the middle by David Hamilton. If that ain't Brewers baseball...

With the lineup turning back over to Jackson Chourio, Tyler Glasnow is done. Evan Phillips is coming in.

Just one out in the inning, and let the record show that Hamilton is also a threat to steal.

Dustin May worked around a one-out single by Max Muncy to keep the score at 4-2.

May is at 44 pitches through 3.0 innings. He hasn't thrown over 60 pitches in a game since September 18, so his leash might be getting short.

In short, Ohtani "got tired of hearing it" when there was buzz earlier in the week that he might hit the bench for Game 3.

If that was Roberts' intention in getting the story out there, there's only one thing to say: Well played, sir.

Back-to-back groundouts by Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell, and he's out of the inning.

Per Baseball Savant, the Dodgers have a 75 percent win probability. It was 89 percent at the outset of the fourth inning.

That's a two-run double to cut the Dodgers' lead in half. And it was only a six-pitch at-bat this time!

Not to be lost: Bauers had a tough take on 2-2 and Will Smith chose not to challenge after losing an ABS challenge earlier in the inning.

He went nine up, nine down through three and then issued a one-out walk to Brice Turang and a ground-rule double to William Contreras.

Brewers have second and third with one out, and Jake Bauers at the dish.

With the Brewers down 4-0 and Game 5 scheduled for tomorrow, May could be asked to empty the tank in this one. If Pat Murphy doesn't have to use his leverage arms, he shouldn't.

He's through three innings without a baserunner, and has struck out six.

Brewers hitters are known for being exceptionally patient. Glasnow's plan apparently involves throwing them lots of strikes. So far, 27 out of 42 total pitches.

Yeah, sure looks like he did. And ditto for the Dodger Stadium crowd.

The Brewers had been able to keep Ohtani under wraps before this. If he's back, they're 3-0 lead looks more vulnerable than it should.

Roberts played a hunch and moved him back into the leadoff spot, even though he hadn't homered since August 18.

Well, there's the payoff. Three runs for the Dodgers and the biggest swing Ohtani has had in months. It was 113.1 mph off the bat and landed 428 feet away.

The Dodgers needed this, especially after Max Muncy struck out in place of Miguel Rojas for the first out of the inning.

Pages had four hits in the 2025 postseason. He already has six in this one.

A leadoff single by Tucker in the bottom of the second ends the day for Drohan, who wasn't very effective. As of now, he has a hit and two walks on his line for one ining of work.

Dustin May is coming on to face three straight righties, unless Roberts counters.

It's six up, six down for the Dodgers righty through two, including four strikeouts in a row. He's really got the hammer curveball working.

The Dodgers need as many zeroes from him as they can get.

He really lost the strike zone after the strikeout of Shohei Ohtani, ultimately throwing just 10 of 22 pitches for strikes. But with Will Smith running, that slow ground ball was just what Drohan needed.

Struck out and lost the helmet and everything. Yikes.

His teammates are looking to pick him up, as Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman drew back-to-back walks to set the stage for Will Smith.

He averaged 96.4 mph on the fastball, up 0.9 mph on his average from the regular season. He fanned Brice Turang and William Contreras swinging.

For what it's worth, the Brewers have struck out 10 more times than the Dodgers in this series and are doing just fine. If the Dodgers are going to win this game, it needs to be from the batter's box.

Ain't seen nothing like that in any amusement hall, but it works.

Of note: It is normally Max Muncy at third base for the Dodgers, not Enrique Hernández. He's getting the start for the right-on-left matchup against Shane Drohan.

Tell me you're playing a hunch without literally saying the word "hunch."

That's the vibe of this explanation, anyway. And to be fair to Roberts, the last time he played a hunch with a lineup decision worked out OK.

For what it's like when a series goes to 3-0, who better to talk it out than David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter?

All three were there when the Red Sox came back to defeat the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. Ortiz looks back and sees a Red Sox team that was loose, but willing to battle on every pitch and in every inning. That was sure what it felt like at the time.

As for Rodriguez's take that the pressure is all on the Brewers, one has to believe that Dodgers fans beg to differ.

This was hours before first pitch at Dodger Stadium. They're obviously not going to do something like that for the first time live. Of course they had to practice.

Still, it feels like a jinx… for someone, anyway.

Roberts was there when the Red Sox dug out of a 3-0 hole against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. As he sees it, all that matters is that the Dodgers have the same kind of belief that the '04 Red Sox had.

"That's what that group did a great job of," Roberts said before tonight's game. "It's sort of like, 'We've got nothing to lose. No one else thinks we can beat the Yankees down 3-0. No one thinks that we're going to come back in this series.'"

And then, pointing in the direction of the Dodgers clubhouse: "The most important thing is what those guys believe."

It's hard not to notice the big change for the Dodgers. After dropping to sixth in the order for Game 3, Shohei Ohtani is back in his customary leadoff spot.

The four-time MVP still hasn't homered since August 18, and it was as recently as Monday that the Dodgers were reportedly considering benching him. He responded with his best game of the postseason on Wednesday, drawing a key walk and knocking a 113.5 mph single. Even if Ohtani is still feeling pain in his left knee and right biceps, Dave Roberts is clearly trusting a hunch.

The Brewers have had a weird offensive series, notably striking out 35 times compared to just 25 for the Dodgers. The difference is that they have seven extra-base hits to the Dodgers' two, neither of which has been a home run.