The Brewers Pulled Off a Baseball First: Sweeping the Team That Swept Them

Last October, the Milwaukee Brewers were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers. This October, they returned the favor. Milwaukee beat the Dodgers 6-4 in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Thursday, Oct. 15, at Dodger Stadium. That finished a four-game sweep of the two-time defending World Series champions, the Associated Press reported.¹

The win sends the Brewers to the World Series for the first time since 1982 and gives the franchise its first National League pennant. Milwaukee’s only previous World Series came when it was still an American League team, and it ended in a seven-game loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.¹

The sweep also made history. According to the AP, no major league club had ever finished a postseason sweep after being swept by the same opponent the postseason before. The Dodgers swept the Brewers in the 2025 NLCS.¹² The AP also reports that Milwaukee is the first team to sweep a best-of-seven postseason series in which it trailed in every game. That is an unusual way to win four straight.¹

From 4-0 down to 6-4

Game 4 did not look like a clincher early. Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run of the postseason, a three-run shot in the second inning, and the Dodgers led 4-0.¹

Milwaukee tied it in the fifth. The Dodgers bullpen walked four batters that inning, and the Brewers stole two bases.¹

Garrett Mitchell led off the sixth against Tanner Scott with the score 4-4. He fell behind 0-2 and worked the count full. Then he hit a 409-foot homer to center field, which gave Milwaukee its first lead of the night.¹² “It’s absolutely surreal,” Mitchell said, according to the AP.¹

The insurance run came from an unlikely place. David Hamilton, batting ninth, hit a two-out solo homer off Edwin Díaz in the ninth inning. He had hit only four home runs all regular season.¹

Aaron Ashby pitched three scoreless innings for the save, and JoJo Romero got the win.¹² With 49,104 fans in the stands, Jackson Chourio ran down the final out at the left field warning track. Jeff Levering made the radio call.¹⁵

How Milwaukee won the series

The Brewers led the majors with 103 regular-season wins, yet Fox’s OutKick still described them as underdogs against the champions.¹⁴ Over the series, they out-homered the Dodgers 7-1.⁴⁵ OutKick reported that Milwaukee’s bullpen had allowed only two runs in the entire postseason.⁴ Jake Bauers was named NLCS MVP.¹

Manager Pat Murphy summed up the team’s approach in the AP’s report: “We weren’t coming in to play patty-cake.”¹

“We’re standing on shoulders of Bud Selig and Bob Uecker,” owner Mark Attanasio said, according to the AP.¹

The end of a three-peat bid

The loss ended the Dodgers’ attempt at a third straight title. No team has done that since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees, and no National League team has ever done it. The AP blamed an anemic offense and injuries to Ohtani and others.¹

“You’ve got to sometimes tip your cap,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, according to the AP.¹

What’s next

The Brewers get a week off. They will host Cleveland or Tampa Bay in the World Series opener on Oct. 23.¹³