The Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers start the National League Championship Series tonight at Miller Park with lefties Clayton Kershaw and Gio Gonzalez taking the mound in the series opener.
The Dodgers are playing in their third straight NLCS and are looking to return to the World Series after losing in the Fall Classic to the Houston Astros last year.
For the Brewers, this is their first trip to the NLCS since 2011 when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in six games.
The only other time the Brewers reached a championship series was 1982 when they were an American League team. That year they beat the then California Angels 3-2 in the ALCS but then lost the World Series to the Cardinals 4-3.
The Brewers enter tonight’s game having won 11 in a row and look to take advantage of the strength of their bullpen to counter the Dodgers’ more talented, deeper and more experienced roster of the two.
But the Brewers bring more than solid starters backed up by a brilliant bullpen to this meeting with the Dodgers.
Their offense is led by Christian Yelich, Jesus Aguilar and Travis Shaw, while Mike Moustakas has been a key addition after being acquired via a trade with the Kansas City Royals back in July. As a team, the Brewers are also dangerously powerful as they finished second in home runs trailing only the Dodgers in the National League.
Since the Dodgers rotation is the best of the two they must try to get the lead early in the games because trying to come from behind against Milwaukee’s bullpen will be almost impossible as it almost never surrenders the lead in the late innings.
The Dodgers offense, led by Max Muncy, will need to step up to produce enough runs early and help their pitchers withstand the comeback attempts once both bullpens take over the game. Key players such as Justin Turner, David Freese, and mid-season acquisition Manny Machado, must also make important contributions if the Dodgers are to advance to their second World Series in a row.
On the mound, Kershaw needs to show he can consistently perform in the playoffs as he usually tends to falter in key postseason instances. If Kershaw underperforms in game 1 and they lose, the Brewers will take a big step towards winning the series. Not only will Milwaukee batters get confident they can hit against any of the Dodgers’ starters, but they also will not be as intimidated by the possibility of facing Kershaw more than once in the series.
Pitching Matchups:
Game 1: Clayton Kershaw vs Gio Gonzalez (Oct. 12 at Milwaukee)
Game 2: Hyun-Jin Ryu vs Wade Miley (Oct. 13 at Milwaukee)
Game 3: Jhoulys Chacin vs Walker Buehler (Oct. 15 at L.A)
Game 4: To Be Announced vs Rich Hill (Oct. 16 at L.A)
No word yet on who will pitch in games 5 through 7 if needed.
Prediction: Milwaukee advances in six games.
