Brewers put Dodgers season on the brink with stunning comeback Game 3 win
The Dodgers embarked on this postseason in search of World Series three-peat history.If they are still to accomplish that now, they’ll have to make even more daunting history along the way.A year after they swept the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series, the shoe is suddenly, stunningly, unbelievably in danger of being put on the other foot.With a 6-2 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday, the Dodgers are on the verge of not only elimination, but a humiliating sweep.And unless they can become only the second team in MLB history to overcome a 3-0 hole in a best-of-seven series, the way they got there Wednesday will reverberate long into the winter –– serving as the potential death-nail in their modern-day dynasty.In the sixth inning, the Dodgers had finally captured momentum in this previously one-sided matchup, taking a 2-1 lead on a bases-loaded two-run double from Will Smith against hard-throwing Milwaukee reliever Abner Uribe.It was the kind of moment the Dodgers had been waiting for all series: A big hit with runners on base.A hard-nosed rally against the Brewers’ dominant bullpen.
A late-game lead that seemed to take their season off life support.Minutes later, it would all disappear.After six nearly flawless innings from Blake Snell, in which he had retired 18 of 20 batters after a leadoff home run on the first pitch of the game from Jackson Chourio, the two-time Cy Young Award winner returned to the mound in the seventh with Dodger Stadium still pulsing.Then he issued a leadoff walk, and got locked in an epic battle with Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers.Just as he had done to Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a 12-pitch duel during Game 2, Bauers refused to be put away, working an 11-pitch at-bat in which he fouled off five two-strike offerings.Finally, having exhausted all other options, Snell challenged him with a fastball in the heart of the plate. Bauers was ready for it, clobbering a 412-foot shot halfway up the right-field pavilion.Chavez R...