William Contreras leads charge as Brewers chase Yoshinobu Yamamoto, take 2-0 NLCS lead over Dodgers

The pitchers' duel we were promised on Monday never materialized.The Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers each scored a first-inning run in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series in a precursor to what became a relative slugfest. Thanks to a big game at the plate from William Contreras, the Brewers got the best of it to secure a 7-4 win and a 2-0 lead in the series.The 11 combined runs were the most scored in an NL playoff game this postseason.The Brewers now stand two wins away from avenging last season's NLCS sweep at the hands of the Dodgers and securing a trip to the World Series.William Contreras helped spark the Brewers to a 2-0 NLCS lead.Aaron Gash via Getty ImagesWith All-Star and reigning World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound for the Dodgers and standout rookie Logan Henderson starting for the Brewers, Game 2 was projected to resemble Milwaukee's 2-1 win in Game 1.Instead, each starter labored through 39 pitches in the first two innings, and the Dodgers took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the third. Then the Brewers ended Yamamoto's day.Yamamoto comes back down to Earth Yamamoto issued two walks in the third, including a two-out free pass to Jake Bauers after a 12-pitch battle that loaded the bases. Then captain Christian Yelich delivered with a two-run single to give Milwaukee a 3-2 lead.CHRISTIAN YELICH COMES THROUGH!BREWERS LEAD pic.twitter.com/eZ2VMwaYki— MLB (@MLB) October 12, 2026 With that, Yamamoto's day was done. Milwaukee forced him to throw 36 pitches in the third inning, in which he recorded just two outs, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made the call to his bullpen. After entering Monday's game with a 1.07 ERA over his five previous playoff starts, Yamomoto allowed 3 earned runs on 4 hits and 2 walks in 2 2/3 innings. He recorded just 1 strikeout.The Dodgers weren't finished, though. Defensive mistakes from the Brewers, including two throwing errors by Henderson, allowed them to retake the lead at 4-3. They chased Henderson after two batters reached with no outs in the fifth.Contreras delivers with multiple clutch hitsContreras answered back in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to tie the game 4-4.WILD BILL GOES OFF THE SCOREBOARD pic.twitter.com/tLgKSYREhX— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 12, 2026 Contreras then delivered again with an RBI single in the sixth to spot Milwaukee a 5-4 lead. The Brewers never trailed again.William Contreras puts the Brewers in front!He's got 3 RBI tonight 💪 pic.twitter.com/IHA682RpfR— MLB (@MLB) October 12, 2026 Contreras also knocked in the first Brewers run in the first inning. He finished his day 3-for-4 at the plate with 1 walk, 1 home run, 1 run scored and 3 RBI.Brewers bullpen makes historyWhile eight Dodgers pitchers failed to contain the Brewers' bats, Milwaukee's bullpen finished the game with five perfect frames.After Henderson was pulled with no outs in the fifth, Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby combined to secure the final 15 outs of the game without allowing a baserunner. Per the Fox broadcast, that's the first time in playoff history that a bullpen has pitched five or more innings without allowing a baserunner to end a game.Ohtani, Dodgers stars struggle at the plateThe vaunted top of the Dodgers order of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández and Shohei Ohtani combined to go 1-for-13 with 1 walk in Game 2. Betts accounted for the hit and the walk.Ohtani, who's still reeling from nagging injuries, finished 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts. He's now 1-for-7 in this series and is slashing.150/.261/.150 in the postseason.JoJo Romero strikes out Shohei Ohtani, who had a hard time holding onto the bat pic.twitter.com/oYILwD38cj— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 12, 2026 The Dodgers will need more production from their stars and a better outing from projected starter Blake Snell in Game 3 on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET), or they'll risk falling into an 0-3 hole in the series.