The Los Angeles Dodgers face elimination at home Thursday as they trail the Milwaukee Brewers 0-3 in the National League Championship Series. The Brewers can clinch their first NL pennant since 1982 with a win in Game 4 at Dodger Stadium, putting immense pressure on the two-time defending World Series champions who now fight to extend their season.
The Dodgers will hand the ball to Tyler Glasnow, pitching for the first time in this postseason after allowing one run and one hit over 4 2/3 innings in his lone playoff start against the Atlanta Braves. Milwaukee counters with left-hander Shane Drohan, a 27-year-old rookie in the postseason with a 7-5 record and 4.19 ERA this year, aiming to push his team within one victory of the World Series.
Milwaukee has been effective with runners in scoring position, hitting .333 compared to their overall .281 average, a difference that has helped them build a commanding series lead. According to Angelo Magliocca of SportsLine, Glasnow struggled with command in his NLDS start, walking five batters in 4 2/3 innings, which could play into the Brewers’ advantage given their knack for capitalizing on baserunners.
The Dodgers, with baseball’s largest payroll at $339 million, enter Game 4 as -154 favorites on the money line, while the Brewers are +135 underdogs. The latest betting projections give the Brewers a 49% chance to win Thursday’s game, with both the SportsLine model and experts leaning toward Milwaukee’s offense continuing to make an impact.
This series has already defied expectations. Only one team in MLB history, Boston in the 2004 ALCS, has overcome a 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series. The Dodgers’ recent history includes remarkable comebacks, but this challenge looms larger than any they have faced.
If the Brewers win, it would mark only the second World Series appearance in franchise history. Milwaukee’s last trip to the Fall Classic was in 1982, a 40-year gap that adds significance to their current push.
Thursday’s NLCS Game 4 kicks off at 8 p.m. Eastern on FS1, with streaming available on Fubo. Meanwhile, the sports betting landscape offers other options, including Thursday Night Football with the Seattle Seahawks visiting the Denver Broncos and several college football matchups, but the spotlight remains firmly on Dodger Stadium and the Dodgers’ survival bid.
The Dodgers’ fate now rests on Glasnow’s shoulders and whether the Brewers’ offense can maintain its momentum. The Brewers’ lineup has proven efficient and opportunistic, and the Dodgers are running out of room to maneuver as they try to avoid an early exit and the end of their title defense.
According to CBS.