Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Sunday night in Game 1 of the NLCS, a rematch of last year’s series that the Brewers now lead.

The moment that decided it

Rookie Luis Lara stung a first-pitch changeup from Tarik Skubal up the middle to score Garrett Mitchell. Mitchell had drawn a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cooper Pratt. Milwaukee took a fifth-inning lead on a manufactured run and held it the rest of the way, a style that fit its march to the NLCS. It also showed that these Brewers are not the team that the Dodgers swept last year.

Milwaukee’s bullpen was the star

The Brewers’ relievers combined for 4⅔ scoreless innings. DL Hall, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill each worked out of tough spots. Ashby deserves special credit. He covered two innings and induced a pair of eighth-inning infield popups, one from Freddie Freeman and one from Shohei Ohtani.

Three double plays made the difference

Milwaukee’s defense bailed out Jacob Misiorowski, who struggled early. Double plays of 6-4-3 ended both the first and second innings. After Misiorowski left in the fifth, Hall got an inning-ending double play to stop another possible rally.

What it means for the Dodgers

This is only the second time since their title run began in 2024 that the Dodgers have lost the opening game of a playoff series. The first time came in last year’s World Series, and they bounced back to beat the Blue Jays in Game 2 with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. Yamamoto starts Game 2 on Monday at 5 p.m. ET. Falling behind 2-0 against a team as good as the Brewers could cause serious problems for Los Angeles.

Other key moments

Skubal struck out six batters through the first three innings. Misiorowski threw a 102 mph pitch. Brice Turang tied the game for Milwaukee at one point, before Lara’s hit gave the Brewers the lead for good.