The Los Angeles Dodgers begin serious pursuit of their third consecutive World Series Sunday when they open the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Many observers would say their pursuit began last spring at the start of the regular season. They won the National League West with little trouble. Still others would say the National League Division Series against the Braves was the start of their chase. The Dodgers won that best of 5 series in 4 games.

Now they face the Brewers in a best of 7 series. The Brewers had the best record in either league with a 103-59 record. That gives them home field advantage as they attempt to knock off the Dodgers. The Brewers are a sharp hungry team led by Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich, but they will have to be even better than they were in the regular season if they are going to beat the Dodgers.

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Manager Dave Roberts has announced that Tarik Skubal will be on the mound for the series opener Sunday and that Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Game 2 of the series. That announcement was not a surprise, and it was basically assured at the time the Dodgers acquired Skubal from the Detroit Tigers prior to the trade deadline.

Skubal has a 4-2 record with a 2.61 earned run average in 10 starts since coming over to the Dodgers. As strong as Skubal has been in winning two American League Cy Young Awards, more is expected from him because the Dodgers are going for their third straight World Series. Yamamoto has been sensational in the postseason. He has an 8-1 record, a 2.14 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 63.0 innings.