Brewers Beat Dodgers 6-2 for a 3-0 NLCS Lead as Bauers and Mitchell Homer Off Snell in the Seventh
Milwaukee opened with a first-pitch homer, trailed in the sixth, then took over in the seventh and now needs one win in Los Angeles on Thursday night to reach its first World Series since 1982.
Thursday, October 15, 2026/2 min read
Blake Snell was cruising until the seventh inning. Then Jake Bauers stepped in, fouled off pitch after pitch, and turned a one-run Dodgers lead into a Brewers one, and Milwaukee did not look back. The Brewers won Game 3 of the National League Championship Series 6-2 at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night to take a 3-0 lead, according to ESPN.
Milwaukee now needs one more win to reach its first World Series since 1982, a pennant that would end a 44-year wait. It follows the Game 2 win we covered in our Tuesday report.
How did the Brewers win Game 3?
Jackson Chourio started it with a home run on Snell's first pitch, one year to the day after he hit a first-pitch homer off Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 of last year's NLCS. The Dodgers did not catch up until the sixth, when Will Smith's two-run double gave them a 2-1 lead, per MLB.com.
Snell, who had retired 18 of the first 20 batters he faced and struck out nine, walked Andrew Vaughn to open the seventh. Bauers then worked an 11-pitch at-bat and hit a belt-high fastball 412 feet into the right-center bleachers for a two-run homer. Garrett Mitchell followed with a 428-foot shot to right, ending Snell's night. It was the first time Snell had allowed a homer in 11 starts, and he gave up three in this one.
The Brewers added two more runs late, and closer Trevor Megill finished with a four-out save. "Incredible at-bat," manager Pat Murphy said of Bauers, per ESPN. ESPN Research noted that Bauers is only the second player since 1988 to reach base twice in a postseason after plate appearances of 11 or more pitches.
What did the Dodgers say?
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he had been trying to get Snell through three more hitters before the seventh unravelled, according to MLB.com. Snell, who had not given up a homer in his previous 10 starts, called the outcome disappointing but part of the game. Kike Hernandez said the club has never been in a hole this deep. Mitchell, for his part, cautioned that the Brewers have not finished the job, and Murphy credited resiliency and belief for how his team has taken back every gain the Dodgers made in the series.
What happens in NLCS Game 4?
Game 4 is on Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern at Dodger Stadium, on FS1. Los Angeles will start Tyler Glasnow. The Dodgers' bullpen is stretched: Justin Wrobleski threw 32 pitches on Wednesday and may not be available, MLB.com reported, and Tarik Skubal and Yamamoto are being saved for Games 5 and 6.
Elsewhere, the American League Championship Series is tied at one game each after Tampa Bay won Game 2 on Tuesday, and Game 3 was moved up to a 1 p.m. Eastern start on Thursday in Cleveland because of a rain forecast, per the Guardians.
History is heavily against the home side. Teams up 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series have won 41 of 42 times, and only the 2004 Red Sox came back from that hole.
Los Angeles will try to extend the series on Thursday night. Milwaukee will try to finish it before the Dodgers can find a way back.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
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