Bradford DoolittleOct 14, 2025, 11:21 PM ET
- MLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com
- Former NBA writer and analyst for ESPN.com
- Been with ESPN since 2013
MILWAUKEE — The Los Angeles Dodgers’ dominant starting pitching through two games of the National League Championship Series puts Game 3 starter Tyler Glasnow in a tough spot.
After all, Blake Snell went eight dazzling innings in Game 1. In Tuesday’s Game 2, Yoshinobu Yamamoto went one better, tossing the first playoff complete game in eight years; the performance boosted the Dodgers to a 5-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, sending Los Angeles home with a 2-0 lead in the NLCS.
So how can Glasnow top that? Go 10 innings? At this point, anything seems possible for a starting rotation that is carrying the Dodgers on their way to what would be the first repeat champion since the New York Yankees won three straight World Series from 1998 to 2000.
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The Dodgers starters are making it look easy.
“It’s been incredible,” said Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who has had the best vantage point in the house for the rotation’s run. “It’s probably the two best back-to-back games pitched ever, that I’ve seen. Just glad they’re on our side.”
Yamamoto, who was roughed up in a July 7 start in Milwaukee that lasted only two-thirds of an inning, was greeted with a first-pitch leadoff homer by the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio. Rather than a repeat of the summer struggle, it turned out to be a blip.
The Brewers did not threaten the rest of the way, as Yamamoto gave up only two more hits and recorded the Dodgers’ first postseason complete game since José Lima in 2004 by striking out Andrew Vaughn to end it.
“Regrettable, that home run,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “But I reset my mind, and then I just focused on executing my own pitches.”
The last postseason complete game belonged to the Houston Astros’ Justin Verlander in a 2017 win against the Yankees in that season’s American League Championship Series.
Yamamoto’s gem comes one night after Snell shut down the Brewers for eight innings in Game 1, which means the Dodgers’ bullpen has had to cover only one inning so far in the series.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto in NLCS Game 2
• First pitcher to throw a complete game in the postseason since Justin Verlander of the Astros in Game 2 of the 2017 ALCS against the Yankees (9 IP, 1 ER, 13 K)
• First pitcher with a complete game and zero runners in scoring position in a playoff game since Roy Halladay’s no-hitter for the Phillies in 2010 vs. the Reds
• First Dodgers pitcher to throw a complete game in the postseason since José Lima in Game 3 of the 2004 NLDS against the Cardinals
• Dodgers are the first team to have their starting pitchers go 8-plus innings and allow one or fewer runs in each of the first two games of a playoff series since 1983, when the Dodgers (Jerry Reuss and Fernando Valenzuela) did it in Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS against the Phillies
• Dodgers starters have a 1.54 ERA this postseason, the lowest by any team through 8 games of a postseason (min. 30 IP) since the 2012 Tigers (0.96)
— ESPN Research
“I’m really glad because [Dodgers manager Dave Roberts] and the people trust me out there,” Yamamoto said. “As a player, I thought that was great.”
Brewers relievers, by contrast, have logged 11â…“ innings in the series.
“If you look at the construction of our roster currently, the strength is starting pitching,” Roberts said. “When you can have your most talented pitchers get the most outs, then you’re in a good spot.”
The Dodgers’ rotation has a 1.54 ERA over eight postseason games, with Los Angeles’ starters recording six wins in the team’s seven playoff victories. That ERA is a minuscule 0.53 against the Brewers, whose athletic young lineup has so far looked helpless.
“Those pitchers were as dominant as two pitchers have been,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We chased way more than we’ve chased all year. We’ve been the best in baseball at not chasing. These pitchers brought out the worst in us.”
During an era in which quick hooks, openers and frequent pitching changes have become hallmarks of postseason baseball, the Dodgers are turning back the clock. The back-to-back starts of eight innings or more are the first in the playoffs since the San Francisco Giants did it in 2010 on their way to the World Series title.
The Dodgers’ offense did just enough in the first two games, getting homers from Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez in Game 2 that by themselves would have been enough support for the rolling Yamamoto.
In grabbing the first two games on the road, the Dodgers are well-positioned for a return to the World Series: Entering the 2025 postseason, only three of the 28 teams to drop the first two contests at home in a best-of-seven series have come back to win.
“It’s been incredible,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith, top right, said of the recent outings by Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18) and Blake Snell. “It’s probably the two best back-to-back games pitched ever, that I’ve seen. Just glad they’re on our side.” Morry Gash/AP
That history is almost as daunting for the Brewers as the Dodgers’ pitching.
“I know we’re going to be better and put some things together,” Chourio said.
The really bad news for Milwaukee is that it’s not going to get any easier at Dodger Stadium. Glasnow, the Game 3 starter, has put up 7â…” scoreless innings during Los Angeles’ playoff run. Looming in Game 4 is Shohei Ohtani, who posted a quality start and struck out nine in his first career playoff start in Game 1 of the division series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Brewers surprised many by posting baseball’s best record during the regular season and earning the top seed in the playoffs. But they have come upon a rampaging Dodgers squad that is looking the part of a team planning to win another championship.
“Our entire team is playing the best baseball we’ve played all year,” Roberts said. “The focus, the concentration level is at the highest. We’re peaking at the right time.”
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