The Dodgers will seek to advance to the World Series for the second consecutive season when they face the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series Friday at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers were 3-1 winners in Game 3 Thursday at Dodger Stadium, taking a three games to none lead in the best-of-seven series. Tommy Edman broke a 1-1 tie by singling in Will Smith from second with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Only one Major League Baseball team has overcome a three-games-to none deficit in a best-of-seven series -- the 2004 Boston Red Sox, whose comeback victory in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series was triggered on a ninth-inning stolen base by Dave Roberts, now the Dodgers manager.
Shohei Ohtani will pitch for the Dodgers. The Brewers have not announced their starter.
The 5:38 p.m. game will be televised on TBS, streamed on HBO Max, broadcast in English by KLAC-AM (570) and in Spanish by KTNQ-AM (1020).
The Dodgers have swept only one best-of-seven series in their history - - the 1963 World Series against the New York Yankees.
The Dodgers added an insurance run one out after Edman's RBI single when reliever Abner Uribe's throw to pick Edman off from first went into foul territory, allowing Freddie Freeman to score from third.
Milwaukee threatened to score in its half of the first inning as William Contreras walked and Christian Yelich singled with two outs. However, they were stranded when Andrew Vaughn grounded into a force out.
The Dodgers then opened the scoring in their half of the first when Shohei Ohtani hit a 1-2 slider from opener Aaron Ashby for a triple and scored one pitch later on Mookie Betts' double.
The Brewers tied the score in the second. Caleb Durbin tripled with one out and scored one batter later when Jake Bauers singled.
Alex Vesia (2-0), the second of five Dodger pitchers, was credited with the victory after allowing one hit in two-thirds of an inning with one strikeout in relief of starter Tyler Glasnow.
Roki Sasaki pitched a perfect ninth for his third save in four postseason opportunities, striking out Durbin on four pitches for the final out.
Jacob Misiorowski (2-1), the second of four Milwaukee pitchers, was charged with the loss. He allowed two runs, one earned, and three hits in five innings with nine strikeouts and one walk.
The Dodgers out-hit the Brewers, 5-4, in front of a crowd announced at 51,251.
Durbin was the only player with multiple hits, with a with a seventh- inning leadoff double in addition to his second-inning triple. Following Durbin's double, Bauers flied out to center fielder Andy Pages.
Blake Treinen relieved Vesia and induced pinch-hitter Isaac Collins to pop out to Edman, the Dodgers' second baseman, for the second out. Treinen got ahead of Jackson Chourio 0-2, who then fouled off a sweeper and left the batter's box, hopping around in discomfort, stretched briefly, then hopped into the clubhouse.
Manager Pat Murphy later explained that Chourio had "continual cramps in his hamstring."
"He feels like he's going to be OK, so I'm hopeful," Murphy said.
Chourio, Milwaukee's second-year center fielder, was second on the team with 21 home runs and first in doubles with 35 and triples with four.
Blake Perkins pinch hit for Chourio and struck out five pitches later to end the inning. The strikeout was charged to Chourio.
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The top three hitters in Milwaukee's lineup -- Chourio, Brice Turang and Contreras -- were a combined 0-for-11 with four strikeouts and one walk.
The Brewers were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base.
"We haven't got the clutch hit," Murphy said. "We've been a little bit foreign to how we've played in terms of contact."
The Dodgers were 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left five runners on base.
Ohtani was hitless in his three at-bats following the triple, striking out twice. Ohtani is 3-for-29 with 14 strikeouts in his past seven games for a .103 batting average.
"I think he's one of the best players in the game," Roberts said. "And how do you neutralize him? You throw some lefties on him. That's what they're doing.
"I think he's going to come out of it. He's grinding, working through it. But, yeah, as far as kind of their approach, makes sense."
Murphy said his pitchers are "not doing anything so awfully special except we're pitching him very, very carefully. And anytime we can bring in a lefty, we do because that's foreign to all those guys. They don't see lefties as much as righties."
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