Even a four-run lead wasn’t good enough against the Brewers

The quest for a three peat is over. The Commissioner's Trophy will find a new home.

A year after the Dodgers swept the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2025 NLCS, Milwaukee returned the favor with a four-game sweep over the defending two-time champions, marking their first World Series appearance since 1982. The best team in the 2026 regular season will try to secure their first championship in franchise history.

Game 4 did not look promising in the early goings for the Brewers, as Andy Pages collected his third hit with runners in scoring position of the postseason to start the scoring against old friend Dustin May in the bottom of the second inning. Shohei Ohtani had his breakout moment, smashing a three-run home run to give the Dodgers their biggest lead of the series. Little by little, Milwaukee went from being hitless over their first three innings to chipping away at Tyler Glasnow and the bullpen, scoring six unanswered runs and breaking the hearts of Dodger fans in attendance.

Glasnow was in total command over his first 10 batters faced, striking out six while working with a four-run cushion. A walk to Brice Turang spelled the Dodgers' inevitable doom, as William Contreras and eventual NLCS MVP Jake Bauers roped ground-rule doubles to cut the Dodger lead in half. Glasnow managed to complete four full innings, but Milwaukee kept the blood pouring as David Hamilton brought the lead to one run with a base hit up the middle in the top of the fifth.

Evan Phillips came in relief of Glasnow to keep the lead alive, but after two consecutive two-out walks to Turang and Contreras, Dave Roberts decided to bring in Alex Vesia to face Bauers with the bases loaded. Vesia couldn't locate the zone and allowed Milwaukee to tie the game on four pitches without a swing of the bat from Bauers. Garrett Mitchell had only hit one home run against a left-handed pitcher in the regular season. He hit his second home run off a southpaw in as many days with a go-ahead home run against Tanner Scott in the top of the sixth inning, completing the comeback for a hungry Brewers team.

The Dodgers managed to grab a lead in every game against Milwaukee, but the Brewers kept finding ways to turn things around. A team that scored a combined four runs in last year's NLCS, Milwaukee turned things around by scoring a combined 21 runs in the four-game sweep. Four runs for the Dodgers in both Games 2 and 4 were the most they could muster against Milwaukee, and the team averaged less than three runs scored per game.

The last time the Dodgers were eliminated in the postseason before Thursday, Kiké Hernández lined out to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to help the Arizona Diamondbacks finish a three-game sweep in the 2023 NLDS. Hernández once again represented the final hope for the Dodgers, lining out to Jackson Chourio in left field and sending the city of Milwaukee into an unforgettable frenzy.