The National League Championship Series gives us a first-time playoff matchup, and several days off before the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers begin their battle.
Brewers and Dodgers meet in the National League Championship Series
Best-of-seven series for the NL pennant starts Friday in Milwaukee
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
The Brewers swept their first-round series, allowing only two runs to the Rockies in three games, and will have four days off before Game 1 on Friday at Miller Park in Milwaukee (8:09 p.m. ET, FS1). The Dodgers have three days off after dispatching the Braves in four games.
The Brewers have home field advantage after finishing with the best record in the National League (96-67), four games ahead of the Dodgers (92-71). The Dodgers won four of their seven regular-season meetings with the Brewers, including taking two of three in Milwaukee from July 20-22.
The Dodgers and Brewers have never met in the postseason. The Dodgers have played a Milwaukee team in a win-or-go-home setting once, facing the Milwaukee Braves in a best-of-three tiebreaker for the National League pennant in 1959. The Dodgers, then in their second season in Los Angeles, beat the Braves in two games to advance to the World Series.
Pitching was excellent for both teams in the NL Division Series. The Brewers held Colorado scoreless in 27 of their 28 innings, including two shutouts in their respective NLDS. The Dodgers started their NLDS with two shutouts, and posted a 2.06 ERA for the series.
Both the Brewers and Dodgers trailed in their respective divisions entering September, but each team finished strong. Milwaukee was an NL-best 20-7 down the stretch while the Dodgers had the second-best mark in the league at 19-9. Both needed tiebreakers to win their divisions, the first time in MLB history we had two separate tiebreakers in the same season.
Milwaukee enters the NLCS on a 11-game winning streak, while the Dodgers have won seven of their last eight.
The NLCS employs a 2-3-2 format, with the entire series televised by Fox or FS1, with Joe Buck and John Smoltz on the call, along with reporters Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci.
Dodgers vs. Brewers NLCS schedule
Game | Date | Location | Time | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fri, Oct 12 | Miller Park | 8:09 p.m. | FS1 |
| 2 | Sat, Oct 13 | Miller Park | 4:09 p.m. | Fox |
| 3 | Mon, Oct 15 | Dodger Stadium | 7:39 p.m. | FS1 |
| 4 | Tue, Oct 16 | Dodger Stadium | 9:09 p.m. | FS1 |
| 5* | Wed, Oct 17 | Dodger Stadium | 5:05 p.m. | FS1 |
| 6* | Fri, Oct 19 | Miller Park | 8:39 p.m. | FS1 |
| 7* | Sat, Oct 20 | Miller Park | 8:09 p.m. | FS1 |
Start times will be announced at a later date, though it’s safe to assume prime time for at least Games 1, 3, and 6, when there is no ALCS game to compete with.
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