Contreras powers Brewers’ surge

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — William Contreras homered and drove in three runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-4, to take a 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) on Monday.

The Cleveland Guardians drew first blood in Game 1 of the American League’s best-of-seven showdown, coming from behind to beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-3.

The Brewers’ victory, powered by a Milwaukee bullpen that did not give up a single hit over five innings, left the back-to-back defending champion Dodgers with a mountain to climb to reach a third straight World Series.

Hopes were high among Dodgers fans that starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Most Valuable Player of last year’s World Series, would get their team back on track.

But Yamamoto, who pitched complete games in last year’s NLCS showdown with the Brewers and in the World Series, did not even complete three innings.

He was hooked after throwing 75 pitches to Milwaukee’s obdurate offense — most notably a 12-pitch, seven-minute Jake Bauers at-bat.

“He’s one of the best pitchers in the land. It was a great at-bat. I think a turning point, I really do,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

The Dodgers’ star batter Shohei Ohtani continued to misfire — now 3-for-20 in the playoffs, with no home run since August — but was not alone struggling against a near-perfect Milwaukee bullpen showing.

The Brewers, who led Major League Baseball with 103 regular-season wins, need two more victories to reach their second-ever World Series, 44 years after their previous appearance.

A rollercoaster game began with Teoscar Hernandez’s sacrifice fly scoring Mookie Betts, but the Brewers replied in their first inning with a Contreras RBI single.

The Dodgers capitalized on a throwing error by pitcher Logan Henderson, who tried to pick off Betts at first base. His spiked throw allowed Tommy Edman to cross home plate.