Saturday, October 17, 2026 · Updated with results through Friday night
MILWAUKEE — The pennant is flying in Milwaukee for the first time in 44 years. The Brewers finished off the two-time champion Dodgers on Thursday night, a four-game sweep that nobody outside Wisconsin saw coming. Now they wait, and they get to watch.
In the American League, Cleveland took a 2-1 lead over Tampa Bay on Thursday, then the rain took over. Friday’s Game 4 at Progressive Field was called a little after 9 p.m. ET, the first ALCS postponement since 2019 (NBC Sports). The teams try again tonight.
NLCS final: Brewers 4, Dodgers 0
Game 4 looked like the Dodgers’ night. Shohei Ohtani, quiet all series, hit a three-run homer in the second inning, his first home run since Aug. 18, and Los Angeles led 4-0 (Bleacher Report).
Milwaukee did what it has done all October. Jake Bauers cut it to 4-2 with a two-run double in the fourth. A walk tied it. Garrett Mitchell homered off Tanner Scott for a 5-4 lead, and David Hamilton took Edwin Díaz deep for insurance. Aaron Ashby got the last nine outs, three scoreless innings, to close it 6-4.
The numbers tell the story of a series that was not close:
- The Brewers are the first team to sweep a best-of-seven series after trailing in all four games.
- Their four-run comeback in Game 4 is the largest ever in a sweep-clinching win in a best-of-seven.
- Milwaukee outhit Los Angeles 32-23 and outstole them 5-0. The Dodgers hit .165 with one home run.
- Bauers drove in seven runs and was named NLCS MVP.
- Ashby is the first pitcher with a three-inning save in an elimination game since Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS.
Game by game: 2-1, 7-4, 6-2 and 6-4 (Baseball-Reference). One year after Los Angeles swept Milwaukee in the NLCS, the Brewers returned the favor. The Dodgers’ bid for the first three-peat since the 1998-2000 Yankees is over.
ALCS: Cleveland 2, Tampa Bay 1
Thursday’s Game 3 turned on one swing. Tampa Bay led 2-1 after Chandler Simpson’s two-run triple in the fourth. In the fifth, Patrick Bailey reached on a chopper Griffin Jax could not field cleanly, and Petey Halpin drove a 95.9 mph sinker 385 feet to right-center for a 3-2 lead. Then came the bat flip (Associated Press).
Gavin Williams struck out nine over five innings. The Guardians bullpen of Daniel Espino, Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith allowed one baserunner over the final four. The Rays managed three hits and struck out 13 times.
“Two runs on two hits. You got to be perfect to win games like that,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said of Halpin: “I don’t feel like any moment ever gets too big for him.”
Cleveland has won five of six playoff games since falling into a 2-0 hole against the White Sox. Here is the reset schedule, all on TBS (NBC Sports):
| Game | Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Sat., Oct. 17 | Rays at Guardians | 8 p.m. |
| 5 | Sun., Oct. 18 | Rays at Guardians | 5 p.m. |
| 6* | Mon., Oct. 19 | Guardians at Rays | 8 p.m. |
| 7* | Tue., Oct. 20 | Guardians at Rays | 8 p.m. |
*If necessary. Tonight Cleveland goes with a bullpen game, Shawn Armstrong opening, against Tampa Bay’s Nick Martinez.
Updated predictions
Opinion, not fact. And a confession: on Thursday I picked the Brewers in five. They needed only four.
| Series | Thursday’s pick | Today’s pick | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| NLCS | Brewers in 5 | Brewers in 4 (final) | Got the winner, missed the length. |
| ALCS | Rays in 7 | Guardians in 6 | Two straight wins for the Cleveland bullpen, and the Rays have scored five runs in the last two games, three of them unearned. Tampa Bay needs to win two of the next three on the road just to get home. |
| World Series | Brewers in 6 | Brewers in 6 | Milwaukee will have a week of rest and its rotation lined up. The only question is rust. Bullpen depth and long at-bats travel well. |
The World Series opens Friday, Oct. 23, in Milwaukee on FOX (NBC Sports; CBS Sports). Someone will end a long wait. The Brewers have never won it all. The Rays have never won it all. Cleveland’s last title came in 1948.
Off the field: what leaders can take from October
Down 4-0 on the road against the champs, Milwaukee did not swing for a five-run homer. It took walks, moved runners and trusted the next hitter. The Brewers trailed in all four games of this series and won all four. That is not luck. It is a team that runs the same process when it is behind as when it is ahead, which is exactly what we look for in a plant, a supply chain or a leadership team in a hard quarter.
At ENLOSA, we call it Stratactic™: Strategy + Execution. Learn more about our Operational Value Creation approach.
ENLOSA: Global Business Solutions
enlosa@enlosa.com | +1 (877) 246-1109
Sources
- Bleacher Report, Brewers vs. Dodgers NLCS Game 4 live updates and reaction, Oct. 15, 2026
- Baseball-Reference, 2026 NLCS results
- MLB.com, Brewers win NLCS Game 3 vs. Dodgers, Oct. 14, 2026
- Associated Press via KIRO 7, Halpin’s go-ahead homer flips Game 3 as Guardians beat Rays 3-2, Oct. 15, 2026
- NBC Sports, Guardians vs. Rays updated schedule as ALCS Game 4 is postponed, Oct. 16, 2026
- CBS Sports, Rays vs. Guardians ALCS Game 2 live updates, Oct. 13, 2026
- CBS Sports, 2026 MLB playoff bracket, schedule and results
- NBC Los Angeles, NLCS and ALCS schedule and bracket, 2026
#MLB #MLBPlayoffs #Postseason #WorldSeries #NLCS #ALCS #Brewers #Dodgers #Rays #Guardians #Baseball #October #Leadership #Execution #EGBS
Visual photos via Unsplash: Matt Dodd, Chris Moore, Hudson Graves.
Leave a Reply