The height of the postseason is in full swing this week, with the League Championship Series getting started this week. The Dodgers and Brewers started things off on Sunday night, while the Guardians and Rays will kick off their series on Monday. The winner of both of the series will square off in the World Series, which begins on Friday October 23.
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Brewers Take Tightly-Contested NLCS Game 1 vs Dodgers
Game 1: Milwaukee Brewers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1,
Despite winning a league-best 103 regular-season games, skepticism about the Brewers and their ability to make this a series still lingered. Not anymore. Milwaukee pitched to a 3.17 ERA at home this season, the best mark in baseball. That played a huge role in their 2-1 win over the Dodgers, with five arms combining to keep Los Angeles’ lineup quiet. Jacob Misiorowski got off to a bumpy start but regained control, allowing just one run over 4 1/3 innings. The Brewers’ bullpen was fantastic, allowing just two hits and three walks over 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill had to work through some traffic but succeeded, with the latter getting the save.
Winning Game 1 was a must for Milwaukee, especially at home. Falling behind the two-time defending champions would have put doubt in their minds, especially with the history of this matchup. These two teams have met in the playoffs three times. The Dodgers won all three series, including twice in the NLCS. 2018 was a back-and-forth series, which went seven games, with the Brewers failing to advance despite home-field advantage. Milwaukee found themselves in that same scenario in 2025, but couldn’t capitalize again, getting swept by the eventual champions.
On the other side, losing the opening game of the series won’t faze the Dodgers. They have been in this position before, most recently in the World Series last year. Los Angeles went on to beat the Blue Jays after losing Game 1 in Toronto. That being said, they need some of their big bats to get going. Shohei Ohtani is hitting .188 with a .503 OPS in the postseason. The numbers are even worse for Will Smith, who is slashing .053/.100/.053 with seven strikeouts in five games. Curious to see if/when Dave Roberts decides to shuffle his lineup around.
Game 2 Probables: Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs Logan Henderson – Monday at 5 PM ET
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Rays and Guardians Begin Battle in ALCS Monday
At the start of this season, nobody expected the Rays and Guardians to represent the American League in the ALCS. Baseball is full of surprises, isn’t it? While Tampa Bay and Cleveland aren’t stacked with household names like other teams in the American League, this matchup will make for a good and entertaining series.
The Rays come into this series well rested. They have not played since last Wednesday, when they finished a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees. Offensively, they struggled. Over those three games, their lineup hit just .208 with a .599 OPS. But seven of their 20 hits in the ALDS were for extra bases. Their offensive numbers didn’t play much of a factor because the Rays played clean baseball in the field, unlike the Yankees. Watch out for Junior Caminero, one of the game’s best young stars. He will have a point to prove after slashing .182/.182/.227 across 22 plate appearances against the Guardians in the regular season.
Rest? That is something the Guardians do not have going into this ALCS. Cleveland fell behind quickly in the ALDS, dropping the first two games at home against the White Sox. But to their credit, their struggling offense came to life when it mattered most, taking games 3 and 4 in Chicago before closing it out at home on Saturday. The player to watch for the Guardians is José Ramírez, who has begun to heat up after an underwhelming regular season. In five games against the White Sox, the seven-time All-Star hit .278 with two home runs, seven runs batted in and a 1.187 OPS. If Cleveland wants to pull off the upset in this matchup, Ramírez needs to continue to deliver the big hits.
The Rays made it to the World Series twice. 2008 and 2020. They lost both series, most recently against the Dodgers. The Guardians have made it to the World Series six times. Their franchise won it all in 1920 and 1948, so their fanbase has waited for quite some time. Their last World Series appearance came in 2016, when they lost in seven games against the Cubs. Rays vs. Guardians may not be flashy, but it will be an entertaining series.
