The National League Championship Series is back in Milwaukee for its last two games as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Brewers clash in Game 6 with left-handers Hyun-Jin Ryu and Wade Miley taking the mound.
The Dodgers, which lead the series 3-2, are looking to punch the ticket to their second straight World Series as Ryu gets his first start since pitching in Game 2 on Saturday.
Miley is starting in this contest after being used as a decoy in Game 5, where Brewers manager Craig Counsell decided to put him in as a fake starter. Counsell opened the game with Miley to force the Dodgers to put in the bulk of their right-handed players before switching to righty Brandon Woodruff after just one batter.
The trick didn’t work out too well though, as Woodruff surrendered three runs on five hits over 5.1 innings of work on the way to a Dodgers 5-2 victory.
Miley nonetheless becomes the first pitcher since the 1930’s to start two games in a row as he looks to continue his exceptional pitching to extend the series for the Brewers. Miley has struck out 5 and walked two batters while pitching to a 0.00 ERA over 10.1 innings.
More importantly, if the Brewers are to come back in this series, they need Christian Yelich to pick up steam in these two final games. So far Yelich is 5-for-28 in the postseason for a disappointing .179 batting average, a .395 on-base percentage with one home run and two RBI.
Against the Dodgers, he’s even worse as he’s 3-for-20 for a .150 batting average with no homers and no RBI.
Jesus Aguilar is another Brewers player that needs to come to life right from the first inning in these two games as he’s also struggling. Aguilar is 5-for-29 in the postseason for a .172 batting average with two home runs and two RBI. In the NLCS his average is not much better as he’s 4-for-18 (.222) with one homer and one RBI.
Fortunately for the Brewers, the bottom of the lineup has been spectacular, and Lorenzo Cain is finally getting hot at the top of the lineup, but for the Brewers to prevail they need Yelich and Aguilar to become more productive.
Meanwhile, if the Dodgers want to avoid a potential Game 7 they need their offense to continue to produce runs with or without homers. If Los Angeles fails to drive in runs without the use of the long ball, they will lose not only the game but the series.
Prediction: Look for the Brewers to win this game as Yelich and Aguilar are likely to finally wake up now that the series returns to Miller Park. Miley will continue his superb pitching and outlast Ryu as the Brewers will force a dramatic game 7.
