William Contreras drives in three as Brewers take 2-0 NLCS lead over Dodgers
By Rive News / Research desk | Rive News / Published October 13, 2026 at 7:30 AM PKT
Key takeaways
- William Contreras went 3-for-4 with a tying homer and the go-ahead single as Milwaukee beat the Dodgers 7-4 in NLCS Game 2.
- Brewers relievers retired all 15 Dodgers batters they faced, with Aaron Ashby earning the save over 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
- Milwaukee leads the series 2-0 as it moves to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday, with Robert Gasser expected to start.
William Contreras went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs on Monday as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 in Game 2 of the NLCS.
Milwaukee now leads the best-of-seven series 2-0. The NLCS is the National League Championship Series, the playoff round that decides which NL team plays in the World Series.
Contreras drove in a run with each of his three hits, according to Reuters. His fifth-inning home run tied the game at 4-4. His sixth-inning single gave Milwaukee the lead for good.
It was the star turn of a seesaw night at American Family Field in Milwaukee, where the Dodgers took the lead three times and the Brewers answered every time.
Milwaukee took the opener 2-1 behind Brice Turang's home run and a lockdown bullpen, so the Dodgers now face a deep hole. Los Angeles is the two-time defending World Series champion. Only a comeback keeps its three-peat bid alive.
What happened
The Dodgers struck first. Mookie Betts walked to open the game, moved around the bases, and scored on Teoscar Hernandez's sacrifice fly. A sacrifice fly is a fly ball that scores a runner, and the batter is not charged with an out in that spot.
Contreras answered right away. In the bottom of the first, Brice Turang doubled and Contreras singled to left to tie the game 1-1.
The Dodgers went back in front 2-1 in the third. Brewers starter Logan Henderson made a wild pickoff throw to first base, and Tommy Edman scored from third. Henderson struggled with the ball all night.
He made two throwing errors, and both of his wild throws led directly to Dodgers runs.
The Brewers loaded the bases in the bottom of the third. Jake Bauers worked a 12-pitch walk against Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who had dominated playoff starts for years. Two pitches later, Christian Yelich lined a two-run single to center.
Milwaukee led 3-2, and Yamamoto was out of the game.
The Dodgers chased Yamamoto after only 2 2/3 innings. He allowed three runs on four hits with two walks and one strikeout on 75 pitches. It was the shortest postseason start of his career.
"Just wasn't sharp today," manager Dave Roberts said, according to the Associated Press. "He just didn't have it tonight, which is very rare."
Los Angeles tied it in the fifth. Kyle Tucker doubled, Tommy Edman bunted, and Henderson's wild throw to first let Tucker score. Freeman then hit a sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.
That is when Contreras took over. Leading off the bottom of the fifth, he crushed a Kris Bubic fastball 436 feet to center field, tying the game 4-4. It was his third home run of the playoffs and the fifth postseason homer of his career.
The sixth inning decided it. David Hamilton was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Brock Stewart's pickoff throw then skipped off first baseman Freddie Freeman's glove into foul territory, moving Hamilton to second.
After a groundout, Stewart walked Turang on purpose to face Contreras.
Contreras made him pay. He singled to left, scoring Hamilton with the go-ahead run. The Brewers added two more in the eighth on RBI singles by Turang and Bauers.
An RBI, a run batted in, is a run a batter drives in with a hit, a walk, or an out.
Milwaukee's bullpen did the rest. Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe, and Aaron Ashby retired all 15 Dodgers batters they faced over the final five innings. Romero got the win with a 1-2-3 sixth inning.
Ashby recorded his first save of the postseason with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Why it matters
Contreras did something rare. He is the fourth player in playoff history with three tying or go-ahead RBI hits in one game, according to theScore. Every one of his three hits changed the score.
The first-inning single erased an early deficit. The fifth-inning homer tied it. The sixth-inning single won it.
The home run tied a franchise mark. It was Contreras's fifth career postseason homer, tying teammate Jackson Chourio for the most in Brewers history, per NBC Sports. The 28-year-old reached base in four of his five plate appearances.
He stayed calm about it after the game. "Our mentality is to stay focused," Contreras said through a translator, according to theScore. "It doesn't matter what the game state is.
If we're ahead or behind, we're going to stay aggressive and stay focused."
The win matters even more because of last October. The Dodgers swept Milwaukee in the 2025 NLCS. This time, the Brewers have flipped the script.
Milwaukee is chasing its second pennant and its first in the National League. The club's only World Series trip came in 1982, when it played in the American League.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, are trying to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series. Their offense has gone quiet at the worst time. Los Angeles managed only three hits on Monday and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. All four Dodgers runs came on two sacrifice flies and two Brewers errors.
The bullpen gap tells the story of the series. Milwaukee's relievers have allowed one earned run with 26 strikeouts over 28 2/3 innings this postseason, the AP reported. In Game 2, the four relievers combined for seven of the Brewers' nine strikeouts.
Still, the Brewers are not celebrating yet. "We haven't accomplished anything yet," Yelich said, according to theScore.
"It's a good start but we've got to keep going." He is right to be careful.
The Dodgers last rallied from a 2-0 series deficit in 2020, beating the Atlanta Braves in a seven-game NLCS before winning the World Series.
What happens next
The series moves to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday. Robert Gasser is expected to start for Milwaukee, the AP reported. Gasser allowed one run over four innings in the game that clinched Milwaukee's Division Series over San Diego.
The Dodgers have not said who will start. But the assignment is clear. Los Angeles must find its offense and stop giving away runs.
Milwaukee's starters keep making errors at the worst moments, and the Dodgers have turned two of them into runs.
On the other side of the bracket, the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays face off in the ALCS. The winner of that series meets the winner of this one in the World Series.
For Milwaukee, the plan is simple. Keep the same steady at-bats, keep the bullpen rested, and let Contreras stay hot. He started the postseason cold, going hitless in Game 1 before Dodgers manager Dave Roberts intentionally walked him late.
On Monday, Roberts pitched to him with the game on the line. Contreras made the Dodgers regret it, and the Brewers are two wins from the World Series.
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