MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers insisted this year would be different.
And sure enough -- one game into this National League Championship Series rematch -- it already is.
The Brewers had their ace on the mound and a raucous American Family Field at their back. They needed Game 1. And they got it, hanging on for a tense 2-1 victory over the Dodgers on Sunday night.
It stood in stark contrast to last October, when Los Angeles won Game 1 on the road, then never looked back, en route to an NLCS sweep. These Brewers will not go down so easily. Not with this version of Jacob Misiorowski. Not with this bullpen. Not with this offense, which suddenly seems capable of beating you with both small ball and the long ball.
Brice Turang’s homer off Tarik Skubal tied the game in the fourth. An inning later, a walk and a bunt got Garrett Mitchell into scoring position, and Luis Lara drove him in, giving the Brewers the lead. The Milwaukee ‘pen made sure it held up.
The Dodgers certainly made Misiorowski work -- particularly during a 35-pitch second inning. Shohei Ohtani opened the frame with a walk and scored on Andy Pages’ RBI single. L.A. loaded the bases with one out. Misiorowski was on the ropes.
But there’s a reason Misiorowski is almost certainly going to win the National League Cy Young Award, and it’s not merely because he throws heat. Without his best swing-and-miss stuff, he still made it work. He got Kiké Hernández to bounce into an inning-ending double play -- featuring a smooth pick at short from Cooper Pratt and an excellent turn at second from Turang.
Even as the Dodgers drove his pitch count up, Misiorowski worked his way around trouble. He allowed five hits and three walks across 4 1/3 innings. He only allowed one run. After a disputed balk call took what could have been the final out off the board in the fourth inning, Misiorowski instead ended the frame with a nasty cutter past Kyle Tucker. He pumped his fist and hopped off the mound.
Three pitches later, the game was tied.
In this battle of aces, Skubal was much more efficient and effective in the early stages. But he fell behind Turang, 2-0, then threw a fastball that caught too much plate. Left-on-left, Turang launched it into the home bullpen in left-center-field, tying the game at 1.
An inning later, the Brewers grabbed the lead with the type of inning that has come to define them this season. They won 103 games this way during the regular season. Why change now?