Three swings, a 3-0 series
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night to take a 3-0 lead in the National League Championship Series. Milwaukee hit three home runs in the game and never trailed.
Jackson Chourio gave the Brewers the lead on the first pitch he saw, driving it out to right field. The Dodgers could not keep pace.
From swept to sweeping
A year ago the Dodgers swept Milwaukee out of the same round on the way to a second straight World Series title. Now the Brewers are one win from returning the favour.
Milwaukee won 103 games this season, the best record in the National League, and has looked like the deeper team in the series. The Brewers took Game 1 by 2-1 and won a back-and-forth Game 2 by 7-4, rallying from three separate deficits. William Contreras tied that game with a 436-foot home run to centre field, then drove in the go-ahead run an inning later.
What comes next
Game 4 was scheduled for Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, with Game 5 there on Friday if the Dodgers extend the series. Games 6 and 7, if needed, would be played in Milwaukee on Sunday and Monday.
Milwaukee is chasing its first National League pennant in more than 40 years. The franchise has never won a World Series. For the Dodgers, the task is to become only the second team in major league history to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series.
Los Angeles has the pitching to make a run, but the offence has been quiet, and the bullpen has already given up the lead twice in the series. The Brewers, meanwhile, have taken almost every chance the Dodgers have offered.