The Milwaukee Brewers completed a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series on Thursday night, winning Game 4 by a 6-4 score at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The result sends Milwaukee to its first World Series appearance since 1982 and ends Los Angeles' bid for a third consecutive title.
The night turned into one of the most dramatic finishes of this postseason, built around a Brewers comeback, a defiant line from manager Pat Murphy, and the sudden retirement of a Dodgers veteran moments after the final out.
A Four-Run Hole Dug and Erased
Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run in 58 days, and the Dodgers built an early lead, with Los Angeles jumping out in front behind the slugger. The Brewers found themselves down 4-0 in the second inning after Shohei Ohtani hit the Dodgers' first — and only — home run of the series.
Milwaukee chipped away rather than panicking. Sal Frelick walked with one out in the fifth, then stole second, and scored on a single by David Hamilton, the fourth time in the NLCS that Milwaukee sequenced a single, steal, and single for a run. The Brewers eventually tied the game before taking the lead for good.
Mitchell and Hamilton Seal It
Garrett Mitchell provided the decisive swing against Tanner Scott in the sixth, homering to center after working the count full. Hamilton added a ninth-inning homer against Edwin Diaz, giving Milwaukee an insurance run. It was the same David Hamilton who had also driven in an earlier run, making him a central figure in the clincher alongside Garrett Mitchell's return to the spotlight after his series-clinching catch sent Milwaukee to this rematch in the first place.
Pat Murphy's Parting Shot
Once the celebration stage was set, Murphy didn't hold back about the gap in star power between the two rosters. "They may have a bunch of Hall of Famers, but we've got a bunch of gamers," Murphy said after the victory. "And the gamers won this week."
The line resonated because it captured exactly how lopsided the series looked on paper. Throughout the series, the Brewers looked like a team that wouldn't be denied, becoming the first team to sweep an NLCS after trailing in all four games. On the other side, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was blunt in defeat. Roberts said, "We got outplayed in all facets."
Miguel Rojas Walks Away a Champion
The sweep also closed the book on one of the Dodgers' most respected veterans. Rojas told reporters after the Dodgers' Game 4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS on Thursday night that he was retiring.
Fourteen Seasons, Two Rings
Rojas choked up as he addressed his teammates in the clubhouse. "This is it, guys. This is it," Rojas said. Statistically, Rojas surpassed 12 years of big league service and played in more than 1,400 regular-season games, retiring as a career .260/.313/.363 hitter with 61 homers and 386 runs driven in.
A Possible Future in the Dugout
Rojas isn't planning to disappear from the game. He has said he wants to remain in the Dodgers organization in some capacity as a coach, and he has also said he wants to be a manager in the future. For a Dodgers team that matched Atlanta's record for consecutive playoff appearances this year, his departure adds another offseason storyline to track alongside roster questions for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
What Comes Next for Milwaukee
The Brewers now have time to rest while the American League finishes its business. The Brewers will face either the Cleveland Guardians or the Tampa Bay Rays as they go for the first World Series title in franchise history. That series remains in progress, with developments like Cleveland's recent ALCS win over Tampa Bay shaping who Milwaukee will face.
Beyond the final score, the numbers back up just how thoroughly Milwaukee controlled the series. The Brewers outhit the Dodgers 32-23, out-walked them 18-14 and out-stole them 5-0 across the four games, underlining that the sweep was no fluke. For a franchise still chasing its first championship, this NLCS triumph — and the underdog mentality Murphy keeps preaching — now shifts attention toward the broader MLB Playoffs picture as the World Series approaches.
For the Dodgers, the offseason begins earlier than it has in years, with a roster reshuffle and Rojas's exit from the active roster among the first items on the agenda. Milwaukee, meanwhile, will try to turn 44 years of waiting into a parade, carrying the same defiant edge that defined its pennant-clinching run, a storyline that began taking shape back in Game 3's tense finish against Blake Snell.