Brewers take 2-0 NLCS lead over Dodgers after Contreras sparks Game 2 comeback

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 at American Family Field on Monday, October 12, to take a 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series. William Contreras tied Game 2 with a fifth-inning home run and drove in the go-ahead run an inning later, putting Milwaukee two wins from its first World Series appearance since 1982.

The Brewers had to recover from three separate deficits to win. Their bullpen then shut down the Dodgers: four relievers retired the final 15 Los Angeles batters in order, leaving no opening for another swing in a game that had repeatedly changed direction. The result gives Milwaukee a commanding series position before play moves to Los Angeles.

How Contreras turned Game 2 for Milwaukee

Contreras hit a 436-foot home run to center field off Dodgers reliever Kris Bubic in the fifth inning to bring Milwaukee level. In the sixth, his single brought home the run that put the Brewers ahead. The two hits answered different moments of pressure: one erased a deficit, while the other gave Milwaukee a lead it kept.

Milwaukee added breathing room in the eighth when Brice Turang and Jake Bauers each hit an RBI single. Those runs extended the lead to the final 7-4 margin. Contreras told MLB.com the Brewers had aimed to stay aggressive and focused regardless of the score, a description consistent with their repeated recoveries during the game.

MLB.com described those five perfect relief innings as the most ever thrown by a team's bullpen in a postseason game. The distinction captures why Milwaukee could protect its lead after a volatile first part of the contest: once the relievers took over, every remaining Dodgers batter was retired.

What a 2-0 NLCS lead means for the Brewers and Dodgers

The series is best of seven, so Milwaukee needs two more wins to advance. The Brewers are pursuing their second pennant and their first as a National League team. Their only previous World Series appearance came in 1982, when the franchise played in the American League. A series win would therefore end a wait of more than four decades for another World Series appearance.

Los Angeles, meanwhile, is trying to win a third consecutive World Series title. The 2-0 deficit makes that ambition harder, but it does not settle the series. According to MLB.com, teams that took a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven postseason series won 79 of 95 such matchups, or 83%. Sixteen teams recovered from that position.

The recent examples in MLB.com's tally include Toronto's comeback in the 2025 American League Championship Series and Arizona's in the 2023 NLCS. The Associated Press reported that the Dodgers last overcame an 0-2 series deficit against Atlanta in the 2020 NLCS. Those precedents show the route back exists, while the historical record shows how much the result favors Milwaukee.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy cautioned against looking beyond the next game and praised the Dodgers, according to MLB.com. His comments came with Milwaukee holding a substantial series advantage, but before either team had played a game in Los Angeles in this NLCS.

When and where is NLCS Game 3?

Game 3 is scheduled for Wednesday, October 14, in Los Angeles, with MLB.com listing an 8 p.m. Eastern Time start. It will be the Dodgers' first home game of this NLCS after two defeats in Milwaukee. The Brewers enter it needing two more wins to take the pennant; Los Angeles needs four to advance.

The move to Los Angeles gives the Dodgers their next chance to cut the deficit, while Milwaukee can move within one win of the pennant. The outcome of Game 3, rather than the historical odds alone, will determine how close either club is to its World Series goal.