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All through October the Milwaukee Brewers have lived by a single mantra: “Magic Brew!”

Through two games in the National League Championship Series the Los Angeles Dodgers have silenced Milwaukee’s magic and the only thing brewing is LA’s dominant pitching staff. 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivered a complete game and the Dodgers rode his latest postseason pitching gem to a 5-1 victory in Game 2, stealing both games on the road as the best-of-seven series now heads to Hollywood for Games 3 through 5 of the NLCS. 

Before the Dodgers bats got going, Jackson Chourio didn’t waste a single second igniting the crowd at American Family Field on Tuesday night. 

The 21-year-old phenom launched the first pitch he saw from Yamamoto into the Dodgers’ bullpen in right field, a thunderous leadoff home run that sent 41,427 fans into a frenzy. 

For a brief moment, the Brewers’ ballpark pulsed with postseason electricity — that crack of the bat echoing like a starter’s pistol for what felt destined to be another Milwaukee October moment.

But Yamamoto and the reigning, defending, and undisputed champions had other plans.

The Dodgers’ prized right-hander didn’t flinch after the opening shock. He simply exhaled, reset, and went to work — carving through the heart of Milwaukee’s lineup with precision and poise. From that point forward, Yamamoto was untouchable. Nine innings. One run. Three hits. One walk. Seven strikeouts. 111 pitches. A masterclass in control and calm, from a pitcher who made one mistake and then refused to make another becoming the first pitcher to throw a complete game in the postseason since Justin Verlander threw a complete game in Game 2 of the 2017 ALCS against the Yankees on October 14, 2017.

Milwaukee’s early adrenaline faded fast. By the second inning, the sellout crowd had fallen quiet as Teoscar Hernández erased the Brewers’ lead with one mighty swing. 

His solo blast to left field — his third of the postseason — tied the game 1–1 and reminded everyone that the Dodgers lineup doesn’t stay silent for long.

Moments later, with two outs and Kiké Hernández on first, rookie Andy Pages stepped to the plate searching for his first signature postseason moment. He found it. Pages turned on a cutter and sent a line drive slicing down the right field line, rattling into the corner as Kiké came racing around to score. The Dodgers dugout erupted — and Pages exhaled — his RBI double giving Los Angeles a 2–1 lead they would never relinquish.

The Dodgers kept the pressure on in the middle innings, grinding down Brewers starter Freddy Peralta, the ace of Milwaukee’s vaunted pitching staff. Then, in the sixth, Max Muncy gave Yamamoto even more breathing room — and gave Milwaukee another headache. Muncy’s towering solo home run to straightaway center traveled 434 feet and left the bat at 108 mph, slicing through the crisp October night like a comet.

That ball didn’t just extend the Dodgers’ lead — it punctured the Brewers’ spirit and chased Peralta from the game. 

Shohei Ohtani added a fourth run in the seventh with a laser of an RBI single to right field, scoring Hernández and giving Los Angeles a comfortable 4–1 cushion. 

Edman tacked on another insurance run in the top of the eighth with an RBI single that scored Will Smith and the Dodgers opened up a 5-1 lead, sending Milwaukee fans shuffling toward the exits in stunned silence.

It was the kind of road performance the Dodgers have built their October legacy on — pitching excellence, timely power, and a calm refusal to let the moment get too big. They’ve now stolen both games in Milwaukee, replicating the same road magic that helped them knock out the Phillies in the NLDS in four games.

The series now shifts west, with the Dodgers holding a commanding 2–0 lead and the Brewers facing an uphill climb in Los Angeles.

Game 3 on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium will see Tyler Glasnow take the mound, while Shohei Ohtani — the two-way superstar is slated to start Game 4.

The Dodgers’ clubhouse afterward was loose but locked in — the energy of a team that knows it’s only halfway to their ultimate goal of becoming the first team to go back-to-back as World Series Champions since the New York Yankees in 2000.

But through two games in Milwaukee, the Dodgers have proven their six straight losses to the Brewers during the regular season was a fluke, and all this team cares about is winning 13 games in October.

The Dodgers didn’t just beat the Brewers in the first two games. They muted them. And as the NLCS shifts to Los Angeles, it’s the City of Angels — not the city of beer — that now buzzes with October electricity.

Source: NBC Los Angeles