The Brewers already find themselves in a much better place than they did at any point in last year’s National League Championship Series against the Dodgers.

Milwaukee claimed Game 1 of the NLCS rematch by grinding out a 2-1 victory on Sunday night at American Family Field. The Brewers managed just one run apiece in each of the four games of last year’s NLCS, which resulted in a Dodgers sweep.

With the Brewers emerging victorious in another low-scoring battle, let’s take a look at the biggest takeaways from Game 1 -- and how they may impact the rest of the series.

1. Brewers ball gets it done

The Brewers won more games than anyone this season by playing their brand of baseball -- so don’t expect that to change just because they’re playing the two-time defending champs. While not quite everything went exactly to plan for the Brewers in Game 1 (more on that in a moment), they played their game to perfection.

With Dodgers starter Tarik Skubal rolling early, Milwaukee manufactured the crucial go-ahead run in the fifth inning with some impressive small ball. Garrett Mitchell worked a leadoff walk, advanced to second on Cooper Pratt's sac bunt and scored on rookie Luis Lara's single up the middle.

That held up as the winning run, thanks largely to a couple of other Brewers staples: Dominant relief pitching and clean defense.

DL Hall, who relieved ace Jacob Misiorowski with just one out in the fifth, promptly escaped with an inning-ending double play -- one of three double plays turned by Milwaukee. Abner Uribe pitched a clean sixth after being staked to a one-run lead, then Aaron Ashby tossed two hitless innings before Trevor Megill worked around a pair of walks to shut the door in the ninth.

On a night when Misiorowski didn't make it out of the fifth, a quartet of Milwaukee relievers combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings to secure the type of win that eluded the Brewers in last year's NLCS sweep at the hands of the Dodgers.

2. Can Miz get hitters off his fastball?

Misiorowski once again did not have his best stuff in Game 1 against the Dodgers. It once again did not stop the Brewers from getting the victory.

Still, Milwaukee will certainly be hoping to see more from its ace as the postseason goes on.

After Misiorowski lasted just four innings in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Padres, he made it through only 4 1/3 innings in Game 1 of the NLCS. He wasn’t exactly knocked around in either start, but he simply couldn’t get hitters off his otherworldly fastball.

Misiorowski registered a whiff rate of just 13.8% with his four-seamer in Game 1 of the NLDS. That was his lowest in any outing this season. He had a whiff rate of 18.5% with that pitch in Game 1 of the NLCS -- his second lowest in any outing this season.

Sure, he limited the damage to one run against the Dodgers’ potent lineup, but his inability to fire that pitch past hitters led to an elevated pitch count and another shortened outing. He's leaned heavily on that pitch all year -- for good reason, obviously -- but it’s possible he’ll need to mix things up a bit next time he takes the mound to get the Dodgers off his triple-digit heater.

3. Can the Dodgers get the big hit?

The Dodgers hit enough home runs in the NLDS to overcome the fact that they struggled to come through with the big hit nearly the entire series against Atlanta.

They went just 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position against the Braves -- and it was more of the same in Game 1 against the Brewers. Los Angeles went just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners, including two to end the game.

In the second inning, the Dodgers had the bases loaded with one out and one run already in against Misiorowski … but Kiké Hernández grounded into an inning-ending double play. They got a leadoff single to start both the third and fourth, but neither runner scored. With runners on first and third in the sixth, Andy Pages struck out to end the threat.

Then, in the ninth, after Kyle Tucker and Josue De Paula worked back-to-back two-out walks, Mookie Betts flied out to end the game.

The Dodgers went down in order only once all night (the seventh inning), but managed just one run.

4. Will Ohtani impact the series?

Shohei Ohtani stole the show in last year's NLCS, finishing off the Brewers with arguably the best individual performance in the history of the sport. In Game 4, he went 3-for-3 with three home runs at the plate while striking out 10 over six scoreless innings on the mound.

But Ohtani won't pitch in this year's NLCS as he battles nagging injuries. And though he's been taking his walks, his bat is still lacking. He reached base twice in Game 1 -- once on a four-pitch walk and another on a flare single -- but Ohtani does not have an extra-base hit in five games this postseason.

He hasn't homered since Aug. 18. He has only one RBI in 23 games since that day. He's hitting .163 (14-for-86) with a .503 OPS in that span.

The Brewers know as well as anyone just how quickly Ohtani can change a game when he’s going right, but the Dodgers are still waiting for that version to show up.