2018 National League Championship Series

For the 2018 regular season.[3]

Miller Park hosted its first NLCS since 2011

Brewers announcer and former MLB player Bob Uecker threw the ceremonial first pitch.[11] Clayton Kershaw started game one for the Dodgers, while Gio González started for the Brewers. The Dodgers scored first, on a homer by Manny Machado in the second inning, which was the only run and hit allowed by González who was replaced after only two innings. His replacement, relief pitcher Brandon Woodruff, homered off Kershaw to tie the game in the third inning. A sacrifice fly by Hernán Pérez scored Lorenzo Cain to put the Brewers up 2–1 after three. A two-run pinch-hit single by Domingo Santana in the fourth inning extended the lead to three and a single by Ryan Braun scored Santana to make it 5–1. Kershaw allowed five runs on six hits and two walks in a little over three innings, the shortest post-season outing of his career. Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers became the first catcher in post-season history to have two errors and two passed balls in the same game. The Brewers added on to their lead when Jesús Aguilar hit a homer off of Julio Urías in the seventh inning. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the eighth inning against Joakim Soria and managed to score three runs on back-to-back RBI singles by Machado and Matt Kemp off of Jeremy Jeffress to narrow the gap to 6–4. Chris Taylor hit an RBI triple in the ninth off Corey Knebel, who managed to retire Justin Turner to save the 6–5 win for the Brewers.[12]

Brandon Woodruff became only the third relief pitcher in major league history to homer in a postseason game, matching the feat of Rosy Ryan (in Game 3 of the 1924 World Series) and Travis Wood (in Game 2 of the 2016 NLDS).[13]

Justin Turner's two-run homer gave Los Angeles the lead, and ultimately the win, in Game 2.

Former Brewers All-Star player Prince Fielder threw the ceremonial first pitch.[14] Hyun-jin Ryu started the second game for the Dodgers and Wade Miley for the Brewers. The game remained scoreless into the fifth inning, when Orlando Arcia hit a homer to put the Brewers on the board. They scored a second run on an RBI groundout by Ryan Braun. Ryu was lifted after 4​¹⁄₃ innings, he allowed two runs on six hits with four strikeouts. Miley pitched 5​²⁄₃ shutout innings with no walks and only two hits allowed. Travis Shaw homered off Alex Wood in the sixth inning to extend the lead to three. An RBI single by Cody Bellinger in the seventh inning off Corbin Burnes gave the Dodgers their first run of the game. A bases loaded walk by Jeremy Jeffress scored another run for the Dodgers. The Dodgers took the lead in the top of the eighth when Justin Turner hit a two-run home run off of Jeffress. This was Turner's second career go-ahead home run in the seventh inning or later in the postseason, joining Kirk Gibson as the only other Dodger to accomplish this feat multiple times. The Dodgers bullpen kept the Brewers from scoring and they won the game 4–3 to even up the series at one all. Kenley Jansen earned his second save of the postseason.[15] This was the Brewers first loss since September 22.[16]

Brewers' starter Jhoulys Chacín, seen here with the Angels in 2016, was the Game 3 winning pitcher.

Former Dodgers All-Star player Andre Ethier threw the ceremonial first pitch.[17] The Dodgers' starting pitcher was Walker Buehler, while the Brewers started Jhoulys Chacín. The Brewers scored in the top of the first inning, when Christian Yelich walked and Ryan Braun drove him in with a double. The Brewers added a second run in the sixth inning when Travis Shaw tripled and then scored on a wild pitch by Buehler. Chacín pitched 5​¹⁄₃ innings, and allowed only three hits and two walks while striking out six batters. Orlando Arcia hit a two-run homer in the seventh to put the Brewers up 4–0. Buehler pitched seven innings, allowing four runs on five hits with eight strikeouts. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the ninth against Jeremy Jeffress, but Brian Dozier struck out looking to end the game. The Brewers finished off a five-hit shutout of the Dodgers to take a two games to one lead. It was the first time the Dodgers had been shutout in a post-season game at home since Game 1 of the 1983 NLCS.[18]

Cody Bellinger had the game winning RBI single in the 13th inning in Game 4 to tie the NLCS at two games apiece.

For Game 4, former Dodger All-Star Shawn Green threw the ceremonial first pitch.[19] The Brewers started Gio González on short rest, after his Game 1 start. The Dodgers countered with Rich Hill, making his first appearance of the series. The Dodgers took an early lead on a RBI single by Brian Dozier in the bottom of the first inning. González left the game in the second inning after injuring his ankle fielding a grounder from the first batter of the inning.[20] He allowed one run on two hits and one walk. Domingo Santana tied the game up, driving Orlando Arcia in with a pinch-hit double in the fifth inning. Hill pitched five innings, with the one run allowed on three hits and three walks with six strikeouts. There was no further scoring through the end of regulation. In the 10th inning, benches briefly emptied after Manny Machado had contact with Milwaukee first baseman Jesús Aguilar on a ground out.[21] In the bottom of the 13th, Machado singled with one out, and advanced to second on a wild pitch with two outs. Cody Bellinger hit a walk-off single to score Machado. Junior Guerra picked up the loss in his fourth inning of relief for Milwaukee, while Julio Urías, who had pitched the top of the 13th for Los Angeles, got the win. The game lasted five hours and 15 minutes, making it the second longest NLCS game; Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS had lasted five hours and 46 minutes.[22]

In Game 5, Clayton Kershaw allowed just one run in seven innings pitched, getting the win as the Dodgers went ahead in the series, 3–2.

With the Dodgers in danger of going down 3–2, this game featured the second starts of the series for Clayton Kershaw and for the Brewers Wade Miley, the latter of whom was pitching on short rest. Miley (who throws left-handed) walked the first batter he faced and was immediately removed by Brewers manager Craig Counsell in favor of Brandon Woodruff (who throws right-handed).[23] The Brewers got on the board first in the third inning with an RBI double by Lorenzo Cain. Austin Barnes drove in Chris Taylor with a single in the fifth inning to tie the score. A single by Max Muncy drove in the go-ahead run (Justin Turner) in the sixth inning. A pinch-hit single by Yasiel Puig added another run to put the Dodgers up by two after six innings. Woodruff wound up pitching 5​¹⁄₃ innings, and allowed the three runs on five hits, one walk and two hit batters while striking out eight. In the seventh inning, the Dodgers added two more runs. Turner drove in a run with a single off Joakim Soria and another run scored on a ground out by pinch hitter Brian Dozier. Kershaw pitched seven innings, allowing one run on three hits and two walks while striking out nine. He also walked twice as a batter, becoming just the third pitcher in the last 20 years to do so in a post-season game (Jon Lester in the 2016 NLCS and Derek Lowe in the 2008 NLDS).[24] Pinch hitter Curtis Granderson doubled in a run off Ryan Madson in the ninth inning to cut the score to 5–2. Kenley Jansen came in and struck out Mike Moustakas to end the game.[25]

Milwaukee reliever Corey Knebel pitched ​1 ²⁄₃ innings without allowing a hit and got the Game 6 win.

The sixth game in the series featured a rematch between Game 2 starters Hyun-jin Ryu and Wade Miley. Following his abbreviated start in Game 5, when he faced a single batter, Miley became the first pitcher in 88 years to start back-to-back games in the postseason. The last pitcher to do so was George Earnshaw of the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1930 World Series. Miley also was just the sixth pitcher to start three games in a league championship series.[26] Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball and former Brewers owner Bud Selig threw the ceremonial first pitch.[27] David Freese, batting leadoff for the first time in the series, opened the game with a home run off of Miley to give the Dodgers the lead. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Jesús Aguilar and Mike Moustakas and a RBI single by Erik Kratz scored four runs for the Brewers in the bottom of the inning. A double by Ryan Braun added another run in the second. Ryu was removed after three innings. He allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks with only three strikeouts. Freese drove in a second run for the Dodgers in the fifth inning with a double. Miley allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4​¹⁄₃ innings. A wild pitch by Kenta Maeda in the seventh inning scored another run and a single by Aguilar off Rich Hill in the eighth put the Brewers up 7–2, which wound up being the final score, setting up a game seven.[28]

For his role in the benches clearing confrontation in Game 4, Manny Machado was booed by Milwaukee fans for the entirety of all his at-bats throughout the remainder of the series.[29]

Yasiel Puig's three-run homer in the sixth inning were the final runs in a 5–1 Dodgers victory.

For the first time since 2012, when the Giants defeated the Cardinals,[30] and the tenth time in NLCS history, the NLCS went to a game 7. With this NLCS the Dodgers tied for the fourth most game sevens in history with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Red Sox.[31] The starting pitchers—Walker Buehler for Los Angeles and Jhoulys Chacín for Milwaukee—were the same as Game 3, won by the Brewers. Hall of Fame inductee and former Brewer Robin Yount threw the ceremonial first pitch.[32] Christian Yelich homered off Buehler in the first inning to give the Brewers the early lead and then Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer in the second to put the Dodgers on top. Chacín only pitched the first two innings, allowing two runs on three hits and one walk. Buehler pitched 4​²⁄₃ innings, allowing one run on six hits with seven strikeouts. Chris Taylor made a run saving catch in the bottom of the fifth off the bat of Yelich and then Yasiel Puig hit a three-run home run off Jeremy Jeffress in the sixth to extend the lead. The Dodgers would go on to win 5–1 as Clayton Kershaw retired Shaw, Aguilar and Moustakas to claim their second straight National League title, 40 years after they accomplished the feat in 1977 and 1978. The Dodgers were the first team to clinch a pennant on the road in a game seven since the 2006 Cardinals.[33] This was also Los Angeles' first playoff series win where they did not win Game 1 since the 1988 NLCS.

Cody Bellinger was named the NLCS MVP, becoming the youngest to win the award.

2018 NLCS (4–3): Los Angeles Dodgers beat Milwaukee Brewers