Dodgers History: Bellinger & Puig Send LA Back to Fall Classic in NLCS Game Seven Win
On this day in Dodgers history, Los Angeles wins the NLCS in seven games
LOS ANGELES, CA—The Los Angeles Dodgers have punched their ticket to the 2025 World Series, and while they await the winner of the American League Championship Series, which will conclude today with a classic Game Seven, let’s reminisce on Dodgers history.
On this date seven years ago, October 20th, 2018, the Dodgers defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship series to send Los Angeles to their second consecutive World Series appearance.
It was the first meeting between both clubs, and the first meeting in League Championship history in which two clubs that both played Game-163 tie breakers met in the postseason.
The Brewers, who won the National League Central for the first time since 2011, would host the best-of-seven series after securing the No. 1 seed in the National League.
The Brew Crew would head into this sereis undeferated after sweeping the Dodgers National League West rival, the Colorado Rockies in the best-of-five National League Divsion Series.
While unable to complte a sweep of their own, the Dodgers dominated the Atlnat Braves in their NLDS, winning in four games.
It was a back-and-forth series, which would see the Dodgers head into Milwaukee leading 3-2 in Game Six, but would not get the job done as the Brewers would win 7-2 to force a winner-take-all Game Seven.
For the first time since 2012, when the Giants beat the Cardinals, and only the tenth time in NLCS history, the series advanced to a Game Seven. In this NLCS, the Dodgers matched the record for the fourth-most game sevens in history, sharing it with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Red Sox. The starting pitchers—Walker Buehler for Los Angeles and Jhoulys Chacín for Milwaukee—were the same as in Game Three.
Christian Yelich homered off Buehler in the first inning to give the Brewers the early lead, and then Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer in the second to put the Dodgers on top. Chacín only pitched the first two innings, allowing two runs on three hits and one walk.
Buehler pitched 4.2 innings, allowing one run on six hits with seven strikeouts. Chris Taylor made a run-saving catch in the bottom of the fifth off the bat of Yelich, and then Yasiel Puig hit a three-run home run off Jeremy Jeffress in the sixth to extend the lead.
The Dodgers secured a 5–1 victory as Clayton Kershaw retired Shaw, Aguilar, and Moustakas, earning their second consecutive National League title, 40 years after achieving this in 1977 and 1978. They became the first team to clinch a pennant on the road in a Game Seven since the 2006 Cardinals. Additionally, this marked Los Angeles’ first playoff series win without winning Game One since the 1988 NLCS.
Cody Bellinger was named the NLCS MVP, making him the youngest player to receive the award, thanks to his heroics in Game Four’s walk-off victory and his clutch go-ahead home run in Game Seven.
The Dodgers would go on to represnet the National League in the 2018 World Series against the Boston Red Sox of the American League.
That’s where the Dodgers season would end as the Red Sox, a team that won 108 games during the regular season would win the World Series in five games, beating Clayton Kershaw in Game Five.
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