LOS ANGELES — For all the prowess this deep Brewers bullpen possesses, it might be manager Craig Counsell’s starting pitchers leaving the biggest mark on this NLCS.
Monday night it was ace Jhoulys Chacin who seized the mound at Chavez Ravine and kept the crowd of 52,793 almost silent until the Brewers bullpen got involved to close out a 4-0 victory over the Dodgers in Game 2.
The Brewers took a 2-1 series lead and can move within a victory of their first pennant since 1982 on Tuesday, when Counsell is expected to go the bullpen route instead of employing a starter.
Chacin followed Wade Miley’s lead from Game 2 by firing 5 ¹/₃ shutout innings in which he allowed three hits and struck out six. On Saturday, the lefty Miley pitched 5 ²/₃ shutout innings before the Dodgers rallied against Milwaukee’s bullpen for a 4-3 victory on Justin Turner’s go-ahead homer in the eighth against Jeremy Jeffress.
In his previous postseason start, the 30-year-old Chacin pitched five shutout innings against the Rockies. It came after a regular season in which the right-hander went 15-8 with a 3.50 ERA.
Corey Knebel fired 1 ²/₃ shutout innings in relief with four strikeouts. Joaquin Soria got the first out in the eighth before lefty fireballer Josh Hader entered to strike out his two batters in his reemergence after working three shutout innings in Game 1. Jeffress followed with a scoreless ninth and received some redemption from his blown save on Saturday. But it got dicey in the ninth as Jeffress loaded the bases before recording the final two outs.
On the 30th anniversary of Kirk Gibson’s game-winning homer against Oakland in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, the Dodgers couldn’t conjure up any drama. Last year on this date, Turner hit a walk-off homer against the Cubs in Game 2 of the NLCS.
Orlando Arcia’s second homer of the series — and third in this postseason — extended the Brewers’ lead to 4-0 in the seventh. Arcia hit just three homers in the entire regular season.
Travis Shaw smashed a triple off the center-field fence with two outs in the sixth on Monday and scored the Brewers’ second run when Buehler unleashed a wild pitch with Jesus Aguilar at the plate.
Manny Machado was deemed in violation of the Utley rule in the fourth, when he slid through the bag at second base attempting to break up a double play. Cody Bellinger was originally ruled safe at first, but the Brewers challenged the decision, which was overturned on replay.
The rule came into effect in 2016, after Chase Utley’s slide into second base broke Ruben Tejada’s leg during the previous season’s NLDS between the Mets and Dodgers.
Ryan Braun’s first-inning RBI single scored the game’s first run. Christian Yelich drew a one-out walk and scored on Braun’s shot into the left-field corner.
The Dodgers’ best early chance came in the second, when Yasiel Puig’s double put runners on second and third, but Yasmani Grandal’s brutal series continued with a strikeout before Kiké Hernandez was intentionally walked and the pitcher Buehler struck out.
Buehler lasted seven innings for the Dodgers and allowed four earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. The Dodgers have lefty Rich Hill set to start Tuesday’s Game 4.
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