The Brewers put up more runs in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series than they did in the entire 2025 NLCS.
Still, even after Monday night’s 7-4 win over the Dodgers, Milwaukee knows there is plenty of work left to be done as it looks to avenge last season’s NLCS sweep.
"They're hungry. That's the big difference," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "They were good last year; we won the most games in baseball last year, and they were good. We ran into a buzzsaw; a team pretty similar to the team we're playing right now. They were really good. ... This year, they don't want to be denied, and they're going against arguably one of the best teams in baseball ever put together, and they don't care. They won't be denied."
As the series shifts to Los Angeles for the next three games, here’s a look at the four biggest takeaways from Game 2 -- and the potential impact they may have on the series moving forward:
1. Contreras continues to shine on big stage
William Contreras has never been one to shy away from the spotlight -- and that’s been on full display this postseason. The Brewers catcher went 6-for-16 (.75) with two homers in the NLDS, including the game-winning blast in Game 1 against the Padres.
Well, that was nothing compared to what he did in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Dodgers. After L.A. jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Contreras erased the early edge with an RBI single in the bottom half. Then, with the Dodgers again leading by one in the bottom of the fifth, he evened the score with a solo homer.
But the biggest of his three hits came one inning later, when he delivered a go-ahead RBI single that put the Brewers in front for good. Operating as the Brewers’ most fiery player all season, Contreras is -- perhaps to the surprise of few -- leading the charge against the two-time defending champion Dodgers in the NLCS.
2. Where will Dodgers' offense come from?
Contreras' three hits matched the Dodgers' total as a team. Los Angeles went just 3-for-28 in Game 2 as its search for offense continues.
This is uncharted territory for a Dodgers team that has received no shortage of contributions over the past few seasons from the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Teoscar Hernández, Max Muncy and Kiké Hernández, among others.
But this current version of the Dodgers is hitting just .193 (37-for-192) through six games this postseason. They’re just 2-for-26 (.077) with runners in scoring position after going 0-for-4 in those spots in Game 2.
Smith is just 1-for-23 (.043) this postseason. Betts is 5-for-21 (.238) without an extra-base hit. Ohtani is 3-for-20 (.150) without an extra-base hit. Freeman hit a pair of homers early in the NLDS, but he’s 1-for-11 over his past three games.
The Brewers, meanwhile, went 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position in Game 2 alone. They’re hitting .281 (16-for-57) with RISP this postseason, which is 88 points higher than the Dodgers are hitting overall.
3. Which bullpen will outlast the other?
The Brewers came into this series with the heavy NL Cy Young favorite in Jacob Misiorowski, while the Dodgers had the deeper rotation on paper. Los Angeles was set to roll out a Cy Young-caliber pitcher every night, from Tarik Skubal to Yoshinobu Yamamoto to Blake Snell to Tyler Glasnow.
Through two games, however, no starter on either team has gone more than five innings. The Brewers have a 2-0 series lead despite their bullpen taking down more innings (9 2/3) than their starters (8 1/3).
As for the Dodgers, they’ve gotten just 7 2/3 innings out of their starters after Yamamoto went only 2 2/3 innings in Game 2. L.A. once again has the advantage on paper over the next two games, with Snell and Glasnow set to start against Robert Gasser and TBD in Games 3 and 4 at Dodger Stadium.
That said, the Crew’s bullpen has proven more than ready to take down however many innings necessary.
So how do the Dodgers counter that in Game 3?
"I think it's just one of those things that you need Snell to go out there and give us some length," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "Give us a typical Blake Snell outing, and let us deploy guys with a lead."
4. Brewers hold serve as series shifts to LA
The Brewers have guaranteed they have not played their final game at home this season. The only question now is whether their next home game will come in Game 5 of the NLCS or Game 1 of the World Series.
Milwaukee not only maintained its home-field advantage by taking the first two games of this series, but it put itself in prime position to advance to the Fall Classic. In all best-of-seven postseason series, teams that take a 2-0 lead have gone on to win the series 79 of 95 times (83%).
But don’t count the Dodgers out just yet. After all, of the 16 teams to rally from that 2-0 deficit, two have come in the past three seasons: the Blue Jays against the Mariners in the 2025 ALCS and the D-backs against the Phillies in the 2023 NLCS.