Dodgers fall to Brewers in Game 3, move one loss away from elimination

The quiet crowd had come alive. The quiet pitcher had become unhittable. The quiet catcher had loudly blasted a ball that sent Chavez Ravine into tremors.

In the sixth inning Wednesday night, with their pursuit of history on the line against those pesky Milwaukee Brewers, the somnolent Dodgers had finally come to life.

Moments later, they were dead again.

The Brewers’ Garrett Mitchell yells after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning off Blake Snell in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Blake Snell stood on the mound with his hand on his hip, waiting for Jake Bauers to cross the plate before punching in his pitch call for the next batter.

The Dodgers left-hander had just given up the lead on Bauers’ two-run homer in the seventh inning, spoiling what had been a stellar start Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. But Snell was ready to move on.

Two pitches later, he watched another ball fly over the fence, this time off Garrett Mitchell’s bat. And with it went the last of the Dodgers’ momentum in what would become a 6-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.

“It sucks,” Snell said of falling behind 3-0 in the series. “But it’s part of it. How do we bounce back? How do we fight? I think that’s the most important thing. It’s us coming together and finding a way to win.”

⚾ Brewers 6, Dodgers 2 — End of game

Top of ninth inning: Justin Wrobleski remained on the mound. Garrett Mitchell struck out looking, Cooper Pratt singled to right and Luis Lara lined out to right. Joey Ortiz singled to left and Pratt scored. Jackson Chourio grounded to the pitcher to end the inning.

Bottom of ninth inning: Trevor Megill remained on the mound for the Brewers. Kiké Hernández lined out to right, Tommy Edman struck out swinging and Mookie Betts struck out swinging.

⚾ Brewers 5, Dodgers 2 — Middle of eighth inning

Top of eighth inning: Roki Sasaki took over on the mound. Jackson Chourio grounded out to third. Brice Turang reached first safely after hitting an infield single to third. William Contreras singled to center and Turang advanced to third. Justin Wrobleski took over pitching for the Dodgers and tossed a wild pitch, allowing Turang to score and Contreras to advance to second. Christian Yelich struck out swinging. Jake Bauers struck out looking to end the inning.

Bottom of eighth inning: DL Hall remained on the mound for the Brewers. Kyle Tucker flied out to center. Max Muncy flied out to left. Shohei Ohtani singled to center. Trevor Megill took over pitching for the Brewers. Will Smith flied out to right.

⚾ Brewers 4, Dodgers 2 — Middle of seventh inning

Top of seventh inning: Blake Snell returned to the mound for the Dodgers. Andrew Vaughn walked. Christian Yelich took over for Vaughn at first. On his 11th pitch from Snell, Jake Bauers hit two-run homer to right. Snell stayed on the mound and Garrett Mitchell homered to center. Evan Phillips took over. Cooper Pratt singled to center. Luis Lara flied out. Joey Ortiz lined into a double play.

Bottom of seventh inning: DL Hall remained on the mound for the Brewers. Mookie Betts grounded out to third. Freddie Freeman lined out to left. Teoscar Hernández grounded out to third.

⚾ Dodgers 2, Brewers 1 — End of sixth inning

Top of sixth inning: Blake Snell returned to the mound for the Dodgers. Jackson Chourio grounded out to short. Brice Turang grounded out to second despite Tommy Edman bobbling the catch. William Contreras grounded out to short.

Bottom of sixth inning: Abne Uribe took over pitching. Teoscar Hernández walked. Kyle Tucker walked while flashing intent to bunt. Max Muncy struck out swinging. Shohei Ohtani walks. Will Smith doubled to center, scoring Hernández and Tucker. Ohtani advanced to third. Josue De Paula was going to pinch hit for Miguel Rojas, but DL Hall took over on the mound and Dave Roberts replaced De Paula with Kiké Hernández, who struck out swinging. Tommy Edman struck out looking, stranding runners on second and third.

⚾ Brewers 1, Dodgers 0 — Middle of sixth inning

Top of sixth inning: Blake Snell returned to the mound for the Dodgers. Jackson Chourio grounded out to short. Brice Turang grounded out to second despite Tommy Edman bobbling the catch. William Contreras grounded out to short.

⚾ Brewers 1, Dodgers 0 — End of fifth inning

Top of fifth inning: Blake Snell returned to the mound for the Dodgers. Cooper Pratt flied out to left. Luis Lara struck out swinging. Joey Ortiz struck out to shortstop.

Bottom of fifth inning: Robert Gasser remained on the mound. Miguel Rojas walked. Tommy Edman flied out to center. Mookie Betts lined out to center, with the Brewers making a diving catch to pull earn the out. Freddie Freeman grounded out to second.

⚾ Brewers 1, Dodgers 0 — End of fourth inning

Top of fourth inning: Blake Snell returned to the mound for the Dodgers. Andrew Vaughn grounded out to shortstop. Jake Bauers struck out swinging. Garrett Mitchell struck out looking after an ABS challenge overturned a ball call.

Bottom of fourth inning: Robert Glasser remained on the mound for the Brewers. Kyle Tucker flied out to center. Andy Pages struck out swinging. Shohei Ohtani was hit by a pitch on the back of his right thigh. Will Smith challenged a call he struck out looking and won. Then Smith struck out swinging on the next pitch, stranding Ohtani.

⚾ Brewers 1, Dodgers 0 — Middle of third inning

Top of third inning: Blake Snell returned to the mound for the Dodgers. Jackson Chourio popped out to second. Brice Turang struck out swinging. William Contreras struck out swinging. Snell has six strikes.

Bottom of third inning: Robert Gasser returned to the mound for the Brewers. Miguel Rojas singled to left. Tommy Edman flied out to center. Mookie Betts singled to left and Rojas advanced to second. Freddie Freeman flied out to left. Teoscar Hernández hit into a fielder’s choice to close the inning.

⚾ Brewers 1, Dodgers 0 — End of second inning

Top of second inning: Blake Snell returned to the mound for the Dodgers. Jake Bowers flied out to left. Garrett Mitchell walked. Cooper Pratt singled to left and Mitchell advanced to second. Luis Lara flied out to right. Joey Ortiz struck out swinging, stranding two on base.

Bottom of second inning: Robert Glasser returned to the mound for the Brewers. Kyle Tucker singled to right. Andy Pages flied out to right. Shohei Ohtani got a standing ovation from fans before flying out to right after fighting to stay in the lineup. Will Smith flied out to center and stranded Tucker on base.

⚾ Brewers 1, Dodgers 0 — End of first inning

Top of the first: Blake Snell started on the mound for the Dodgers. Jackson Chourio hit a home run to right center off Snell’s first pitch, a four-seam fastball. Brice Turang, William Contreras and Andrew Vaughn then struck out to end the inning.

Bottom of the first: Robert Gasser started on the mound for the Brewers. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman struck out to right and Teoscar Hernández struck out looking.

The Dodgers never waver in their game plan for the regular season: win enough games to secure a bye in the opening round of the playoffs and, in so doing, afford players all the down time they need during the summer to be in top form come fall. They do not need to hurry anyone off the injured list so they can squeak out another National League West title.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers and their increasingly perilous hope of a three-peat, they did not follow that game plan with Shohei Ohtani. The Dodgers failed Ohtani this summer, and now all that remains is for them to cross their collective fingers and hope for the best.

Hope, as they say, is not a strategy.

The Dodgers should drop Ohtani from the postseason roster.

MILWAUKEE — The Dodgers have a big hole in the middle of their batting order, and it’s not Shohei Ohtani.

If anything, Ohtani has reemerged as an offensive force in the cleanup spot, singling, walking and scoring the Dodgers’ only run Sunday in a 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

MILWAUKEE — Imagine a nurse asking the Dodgers: “Any allergies?”

And the Dodgers responding: “Oh, just RISP.”

MILWAUKEE — We’ve weirdly gotten used to seeing Shohei Ohtani look mortal over the last several weeks.

But Yoshinobu Yamamoto?

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Win or lose, Tuesday is an off day. So forget about the Dodgers for a day and enjoy life.

MILWAUKEE — Tarik Skubal, the crown jewel of the trade deadline. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the biggest of big-game pitchers in two countries.

The Dodgers mapped out their National League Championship Series rotation before they even started the division series: Skubal in Game 1, Yamamoto in Game 2, and the World Series on deck.

MILWAUKEE — The Dodgers spent $163 million on the back end of their bullpen the last two years. The Milwaukee Brewers did not.

So two games into the National League Championship Series, guess which team’s relief corps has been lights out and which one has been lit up? (Spoiler alert: it’s not the team with all the money.)

Once brimming with life, the Dodgers’ historic quest has curled up into a withered heap.

The three-peat is dying.

Shohei Ohtani emerged from the visiting dugout at American Family Field with a bat in his hand, and the mass of media members scattered in foul territory up the third-base line shifted his way, pulled by the magnetic force that is Ohtani’s stardom.

Monday marked the third straight day Ohtani had hit on the field, after a multi-round session off the pitching machine on the workout day and batting practice before each of the first two games of the National League Championship series against the Milwaukee Brewers. But the novelty of the move — Ohtani only took batting practice on the field a few times during the regular season, always in the midst of a slump — had yet to fully wear off.

“The results, take full responsibility,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton on Tuesday. “That’s all I can really say, why the results haven’t been where I wanted it to be. But I think there’s different approaches to this, whether that be focusing on reducing the symptoms and getting rid of the pain and/or just making sure that I’m moving well in the swing.”

That break of routine for the start of the NLCS did not pay off in terms of results. But after a conversation with Ohtani, manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that he felt “great” about playing Ohtani in Game 3 of the NLCS, even though Ohtani is still physically compromised by nagging right biceps and left knee problems.

MILWAUKEE —  Mookie Betts slapped his bat with his free hand after tipping a slider from Brewers right-hander Abner Uribe back into catcher William Contreras’ mitt.

Betts had been setting the tone for the Dodgers from the leadoff spot all postseason, taking good at-bats against some of MLB’s best starting pitchers. But there wasn’t much he could do against a sinker-slider mix like Uribe’s.

Uribe shuffled off the mound, and the crowd at American Family Field roared.

The Dodgers play the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday at 5 p.m. PDT at Dodger Stadium.

The game will be shown on Fox, FS1, Fox One and Fox Deportes. Radio broadcasts in the Los Angeles area will be on 570 AM and 1020 AM (Español).

Here are the latest betting odds for Game 3 of the NLCS:

DODGERS

Spread: -1.5 (+125)

Money line: -175

Over/under: 7.5 runs (Over -102)

BREWERS

Spread: +1.5 (-150)

Money line: +145

Over/under: 7.5 (-118)

Source: BetMGM Sportsbook

Here’s the TV schedule for the rest of the best-of-seven series (all times Pacific):

Game 4: Thursday, 6 p.m. at Dodger Stadium | FS1, Fox One, Fox Deportes

*Game 5: Friday, 6 p.m. at Dodger Stadium | FS1, Fox One, Fox Deportes

*Game 6: Sunday, 5 p.m. at American Family Field| FS1, Fox One, Fox Deportes

*Game 7: Monday, 5 p.m. at American Family Field | FOX, FS1, Fox One, Fox Deportes

*if necessary