| 2025 National League Championship Series | ||||||||||
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| Dates | October 13–17 | |||||||||
| MVP | Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles) | |||||||||
| Umpires | Adam Beck,Vic Carapazza,Chad Fairchild,James Hoye (crew chief),John Libka,Gabe Morales,Mark Ripperger | |||||||||
| Broadcast | ||||||||||
| Television | TBS TruTV HBO Max (streaming) UniMás (Spanish) Vix (Spanish – streaming) | |||||||||
| TV announcers | Brian Anderson,Ron Darling,Jeff Francoeur, andLauren Shehadi | |||||||||
| Radio | ESPN | |||||||||
| Radio announcers | Jon Sciambi andDoug Glanville | |||||||||
| NLDS |
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The2025 National League Championship Series (NLCS) was thebest-of-seven playoff inMajor League Baseball's2025 postseason between theMilwaukee Brewers and theLos Angeles Dodgers for theNational League (NL) pennant and the right to play in the2025 World Series. The series began on October 13 and ended on October 17. The Dodgers won the series in a four-game sweep to become National League (NL) champions and advance to the World Series for the second consecutive year. Two-way playerShohei Ohtani won theNLCS MVP for his three home runs, six innings pitched, no runs allowed, ten strikeout performance in Game 4 to secure the sweep. This was the first sweep in an NLCS since2019.
The Dodgers gave up just four runs in the series (one run each game), and the Brewers hit .118, which was the lowest ever batting average of any team in the postseason in a series of at least three games.[1]
The games were televised onTBS andTruTV, and streamed onHBO Max in the United States.[2][3]UniMás broadcast the series in Spanish.[4]
This was the first National League Championship Series (NLCS) to not feature aNational League East team since2018; it was theNational League Central's first NLCS since2019.
TheMilwaukee Brewers qualified for their seventh postseason in the last eight seasons (third consecutive) on September 13,[5] won theNational League Central and earned a first-round bye on September 21,[6] and earned home-field advantage throughout the MLB postseason after thePhiladelphia Phillies were defeated by theMinnesota Twins on September 27.[7] The Brewers won their first postseason series since the2018 National League Division Series when they defeated theirrivalChicago Cubs in five games in theDivision Series.[8] This was Milwaukee's fourth overall League Championship Series appearance. The Brewers, who moved to theNational League in1998, were looking to win aNational League pennant for the first time.[A][B]
TheLos Angeles Dodgers qualified for their league-leading thirteenth consecutive postseason appearance on September 19 and won theNational League West on September 25 via a road victory against theArizona Diamondbacks.[9] As the third-best division winner by record, they played and swept the sixth-seededCincinnati Reds in theWild Card Series in two games.[10] The Dodgers then defeated theNational League East championPhiladelphia Phillies in four games in theNational League Division Series, highlighted by an errant throw byOrion Kerkering that gave the Dodgers the series walk-off win.[11] This was the Dodgers' second consecutive NLCS appearance and the eighth in the last 13 years (2013,2016–2018,2020–2021,2024–2025), as well as their league-leading 17th overall appearance in the round. The Dodgers were looking to become the first back-to-back National League champions since they had done it in the2017 and2018 seasons, as well as the first back-to-back World Series champions since the1999–2000 Yankees.
The Brewers swept the regular season series against the Dodgers, 6–0. It was the first time a National League team swept the Dodgers in a regular season series since the2006 Cardinals.[12] This series marked the third postseason meeting between the Brewers and the Dodgers, and a rematch of the2018 NLCS, which the Dodgers won in seven games. Their previous postseason meeting was also in the2020 NL Wild Card Series, which the Dodgers won in a two-game sweep. ManagersPat Murphy andDave Roberts were on the same coaching staff, the2015 San Diego Padres, during the rookie season of their MLB coaching careers.[13]
Los Angeles won the series, 4–0.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 13 | Los Angeles Dodgers – 2, Milwaukee Brewers – 1 | American Family Field | 2:53 | 41,737[14] |
| 2 | October 14 | Los Angeles Dodgers – 5, Milwaukee Brewers – 1 | American Family Field | 2:51 | 41,427[15] |
| 3 | October 16 | Milwaukee Brewers – 1,Los Angeles Dodgers – 3 | Dodger Stadium | 2:48 | 51,251[16] |
| 4 | October 17 | Milwaukee Brewers – 1,Los Angeles Dodgers – 5 | Dodger Stadium | 2:41 | 52,883[17] |
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Milwaukee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Blake Snell (1–0) LP:Chad Patrick (0–1) Sv:Blake Treinen (1) Home runs: LAD:Freddie Freeman (1) MIL: None Attendance: 41,737 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the fourth inning and the game scoreless, the Brewers pulled off the first-ever postseason 8-6-2 double play. On the play,Max Muncy hit a deep fly ball to center field. Brewers outfielderSal Frelick leaped to catch it, but the ball bounced off his glove, then hit the wall and went back into his glove.Teoscar Hernandez, not knowing the ball went off the wall went back to tag up, something he didn't need to do because according to rule 8.2.4: "If a fair or foul batted ball is caught, other than a foul tip, each base runner shall touch his base after the batted ball hastouched a fielder" (note that the ball doesn't necessarily need to be secured by the fielder).[18] This means that Hernandez leaving third base after the ball went off of Frelick's glove would've been a legal tag-up had it been ruled a catch. However, because it went off the wall, it wasn't a catch, and as a result, there was a force at every base. Hernandez's errant second tag-up gave the Brewers enough time to relay and force him out at home. After getting the out at home, Brewers' catcherWilliam Contreras ran down and touched third base, getting the force out onWill Smith, who had returned to second when he thought Frelick made a clean catch.[19]
The game was still scoreless through five complete innings until the top of the sixth inning whenFreddie Freeman hit a solo home run offChad Patrick to give the Dodgers a 1–0 lead. Dodgers starterBlake Snell recorded ten strikeouts, allowed only one hit, and forced the Brewers to go scoreless through eight innings. With the bases loaded at the top of the ninth inning,Abner Uribe issued a walk toMookie Betts, allowing the Dodgers to take a 2–0 lead. However, in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Brewers were able to get to Dodgers closerRoki Sasaki. AnIsaac Collins walk followed by aJake Bauers double put the tying runs in scoring position with one out.Jackson Chourio hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Collins and cutting the Dodgers' lead to 2–1. However,Blake Treinen struck outBrice Turang to escape a bases-loaded jam for the final out of the game to get the save as the Dodgers took Game 1 of the NLCS.[20]
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Milwaukee | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1–0) LP:Freddy Peralta (0–1) Home runs: LAD:Teoscar Hernández (1),Max Muncy (1) MIL:Jackson Chourio (1) Attendance: 41,427 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the bottom of the first inning,Jackson Chourio hit a solo leadoff home run off Dodgers starterYoshinobu Yamamoto on the first pitch to take a 1–0 lead for the Brewers; however, that was all the Brewers would get. In the top of the second inning,Teoscar Hernández homered offFreddy Peralta to tie the game, followed by anAndy Pages RBI double, scoringEnrique Hernández, putting the Dodgers up 2-1 and giving Yamamoto all the run support he'd end up needing. In the top of the sixth inning,Max Muncy hit a solo home run to extend the Dodgers' lead to 3–1, it was his 14th career postseason home run, a new Dodger franchise record.[21] Peralta pitched5+2⁄3 innings, allowed five hits, three runs, and walked one batter while striking out four batters. In the top of the seventh inning,Shohei Ohtani scored Enrique Hernández on an RBI single, further extending the lead to 4–1. In the top of the eighth inning,Tommy Edman hit a RBI single, allowingWill Smith to score and extend the lead to 5–1. Yamamoto struck out seven batters, surrendering only three hits and one run in hiscomplete game victory, as the Dodgers took a 2–0 series lead. Yamamoto threw the first complete game in the postseason for the Dodgers sinceJosé Lima did it in the third game of the2004 NLDS and the first for any MLB pitcher sinceJustin Verlander in Game 2 of the2017 ALCS. He was also the first Japanese pitcher to throw a complete game in the postseason.[22][23] Chourio’s first inning home run would be the only lead Milwaukee had for the series.
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 5 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Alex Vesia (1–0) LP:Jacob Misiorowski (0–1) Sv:Roki Sasaki (1) Attendance: 51,251 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the bottom of the first inning, the Dodgers quickly took a 1–0 lead with aShohei Ohtani triple followed by aMookie Betts RBI double. BrewersopenerAaron Ashby pitched a1⁄3 of an inning, allowed two hits, one run, and walked one batter while striking out one. In the top of the second inning,Caleb Durbin scored on an RBI single byJake Bauers, tying the game at 1−1. Dodgers starterTyler Glasnow pitched5+2⁄3 innings, allowing three hits, one run, and walking three batters while striking out eight. In the bottom of the sixth inning,Will Smith scored on an RBI single fromTommy Edman, putting the Dodgers ahead at 2–1.Freddie Freeman then scored on a throwing error from Brewers relieverAbner Uribe, extending the Dodgers' lead to 3–1.Roki Sasaki struck out Durbin for the final out of the game for the save as the Dodgers took a 3–0 series lead.[24]
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 5 | 9 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Shohei Ohtani (1–0) LP:José Quintana (0–1) Home runs: MIL: None LAD:Shohei Ohtani 3 (3) Attendance: 52,883 Boxscore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the bottom of the first inning,Shohei Ohtani hit a solo leadoff home run off ofJosé Quintana to take a 1–0 lead for the Dodgers.Tommy Edman then scoredMookie Betts on a RBI single to extend the lead to 2–0 and gave Ohtani all the runs he needed. Edman scored whenTeoscar Hernández ground out to first base to extend the lead to 3–0. Quintana pitched two innings, allowing six hits, three runs, and walking one batter while striking out one. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Ohtani hit his second home run of the game, extending the lead to 4–0. The 469-foot solo home run was hit out ofDodger Stadium,[25] which was the second home run that was hit out of Dodger Stadium in as many weeks, followingKyle Schwarber's home run in Game 3 of theNLDS. Ohtani pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits, zero runs, and walking three batters while striking out 10. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Ohtani hit his third home run of the game off Brewers relieverTrevor Megill, further extending the lead to 5–0. With the leadoff hitter’s third home run of the game, Ohtani was the second player in MLB postseason history to hit three home runs from the leadoff spot, joiningGeorge Brett, who did so at theYankees in Game 3 of the1978 ALCS.[26] In the top of the eighth inning,Brice Turang grounded into a force out to scoreCaleb Durbin and get the Brewers on the board, cutting the Dodgers' lead to 5–1. Dodgers closerRoki Sasaki got the final out to complete the sweep and seal the series, thus sending the Dodgers to the World Series for the second consecutive season.[27]
This was the Brewers' eleventh straight road postseason loss. As a team, the Brewers hit .118 in the NLCS, which was the worst batting average by any team in any postseason series of at least three games in MLB history.[28] This was the Dodgers' first sweep in a seven-game series since the1963 World Series; in that series against theYankees, they also allowed just four runs combined, just like this series. With the series win, the Dodgers were the first team to play in back-to-back World Series since theHouston Astros did in2021 and2022. Additionally, they will be the first team to play in the World Series as the defending champion for the first time since thePhiladelphia Phillies did so in2009.
Shohei Ohtani won theNLCS MVP, the first postseason award of his career.[29] His Game 4 performance was considered one of the best ever in MLB postseason history.[30][31][32][33]
2025 NLCS(4–0):Los Angeles Dodgers beatMilwaukee Brewers
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 32 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Milwaukee Brewers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Total attendance: 187,298 Average attendance: 46,824 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||