The Los Angeles Dodgers are one win away from going back to the World Series after their 3-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the NLCS on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
They are one win away from becoming the first defending champion to reach the World Series in 16 years.
The Dodgers started off fast as Shohei Ohtani led off in the bottom of the first with a triple off of Aaron Ashby. Mookie Betts ripped a double in the next at-bat and the Dodgers jumped out to a 1-0 lead.
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The Brewers responded in the top of the second inning as third baseman Caleb Durbin tripled off Tyler Glasnow and scored on left fielder Jake Bauers' single to tie it up at 1-1.
That score held into the sixth inning as both Tyler Glasnow and Jacob Misiorowski, who relieved Ashby, pitched well.
The Dodgers broke through in the sixth inning, as second baseman Tommy Edman looped a single into center field to score catcher Will Smith, making it 2-1.
"We're just excited," said Edman, the 2024 NLCS MVP. "We didn't play great during the regular season and we're getting hot at the right time."
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman moved to third on Edman's hit, and scored on an error by Brewers' reliever Abner Uribe's pickoff attempt.
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No defending champion has reached the World Series since the 2009 Philadelphia Phillies. No team has won consecutive titles since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees took three in a row. The Dodgers are focused on taking things one game at a time.
"You got to treat it like it's a do-or-die game," Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. "You can't look ahead, and I think that's something a lot of teams struggle with."
"We're up, but like Kobe (Bryant) said, 'The job's not done,'" Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts said. "We got to keep going and just keep applying pressure. We got to keep in mind we're five wins away from what we really want."
The Brewers had the Dodgers' number in the regular season, as they went 6-0 against the reigning champs, but the tide has turned in this series as they are on the brink of being swept.
The Brewers have lost their last 10 postseason road games dating to 2018, and have just three runs and nine hits in the series. Dodgers starting pitchers have posted a sparkling 1.54 ERA in the postseason thus far.
The Brewers will look to avoid getting swept when they play the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLCS at 8:38 p.m. ET on Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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