Dodgers face must-win feel as NLCS shifts to Los Angeles
The Milwaukee Brewers lead the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0 in the NL title series. Game 3 is Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, and lefty Robert Gasser will start for Milwaukee. Only one team has ever come back to win a best-of-seven playoff series after it fell behind 3-0.
The NL Championship Series moves to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday night, with the Milwaukee Brewers up 2-0 on the Dodgers, winners of the last two World Series. First pitch is set for 8 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium, and the game airs nationally on FS1, MLB.com reported.
Milwaukee won both games at home, and in Game 2 on Monday, catcher William Contreras hit a game-tying homer in the fifth inning and later drove in the go-ahead run, MLB.com reported. His homer went 436 feet, and he finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs, the AP reported. All three of his hits tied the game or gave Milwaukee the lead, Sports Illustrated reported. Four Brewers relievers then retired the last 15 Dodgers batters in order to close out the win, the AP reported. "The goal is not to think about where we're at. … Just focusing on what's next," Contreras said, MLB.com reported.
The stakes for Los Angeles are clear: forty-two teams have fallen behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series, MLB.com noted, and thirty-two of them were swept, while only one, the 2004 Boston Red Sox against the Yankees, came back. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts played on that Boston team. "Can we do it? Absolutely," he said, MLB.com reported.
Robert Gasser, a lefty, will start for Milwaukee after beginning the season at Triple-A Nashville and is 2-0 with a 1.73 ERA in his last seven games, MLB.com reported. He made 20 starts in the regular season and went 5-5 with a 3.87 ERA, both Sports Illustrated and the AP reported. Against the Dodgers this season, he allowed seven runs over 10.2 innings, and Milwaukee lost both games, Sports Illustrated reported.
Blake Snell is the Dodgers' likely starter, the AP reported, and Sports Illustrated reports that he will take the mound. Snell had elbow surgery in May and went 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA in eight starts after he returned, but in his first start this postseason, against Atlanta, he walked five batters and lasted only 3 2/3 innings. "He just was fighting himself with his delivery all game," Roberts said, adding that the groin was not the problem, Sports Illustrated reported.
Snell has a strong history against Milwaukee, since in last year's NLCS he struck out 10 Brewers over eight scoreless innings and faced the minimum, MLB.com noted.
What we know: Milwaukee leads 2-0, and Gasser starts Game 3 on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
What we don't: Whether the Dodgers' bats can recover at home after two losses in Milwaukee.
Where outlets agree Sports Illustrated and the AP both report that Robert Gasser, who went 5-5 with a 3.87 ERA, is in line to start Game 3 for the Brewers.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.