Dodgers vs Brewers game 4: Ohtani homers, Los Angeles leads 4-0 early
Milwaukee can complete a sweep of the defending champion Dodgers tonight, but Los Angeles jumped out front behind a Shohei Ohtani home run.
Why Dodgers vs Brewers is trending
People are searching Dodgers vs Brewers right now because Game 4 of the NLCS is being played at Dodger Stadium, and it could end the series tonight. Milwaukee has a chance to complete a sweep of the defending champion Dodgers, in what has been called a potential finale for this NLCS. Early in the game Los Angeles jumped to a 4-0 lead, with Shohei Ohtani breaking out of a quiet stretch on a three-run home run.
What is not settled yet is how the rest of the game plays out. This is built from in-game highlights, not a final box score, so there is no confirmed outcome to report here. What happens next is straightforward. Either the Dodgers hold on and force a Game 5, or the Brewers close out the sweep and reach their first World Series in 44 years.
Inside the start of Game 4
The Dodgers got on the board first through Pages. The game opened with what has been described simply as a wild play before that run came in, setting an unusual tone early. From there Ohtani provided the signature swing of the night so far, a three-run home run that pushed the Dodgers' lead to 4-0.
For a Dodgers team facing elimination, getting ahead early matters. Los Angeles is the reigning World Series champion, and a loss tonight ends that title defense. Milwaukee is chasing something it has not touched in decades.
What a Brewers win would mean
Milwaukee has not reached the World Series in 44 years, since 1982. A win in Game 4 would send the Brewers there and would mean sweeping a Dodgers team that won the title the year before. The Dodgers are trying to avoid exactly that outcome in front of their own fans at Dodger Stadium.
The other championship series
While Los Angeles and Milwaukee play out the NLCS, Cleveland and Tampa Bay are doing the same on the American League side. The Guardians beat the Rays 3-2 in Game 3 on Thursday to take a 2-1 series lead, and the game turned on one swing. Petey Halpin, who opened this season in Triple-A, hit a 96 mph sinker from Griffin Jax 385 feet into the right-field seats in the fifth inning for a go-ahead two-run homer, then flipped his bat about as high as the ball flew. It was Halpin's first career postseason homer, after just four regular-season homers in 213 big league plate appearances.
The Rays struck out 13 times in the loss, an extreme number for a team that had the majors' lowest strikeout rate this season at 18.8 percent. Rays star Junior Caminero went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, matching a career high. Guardians starter Gavin Williams, the American League's strikeout leader this season, struck out nine over five innings before four relievers closed it out.