Dodgers History: The Thrilling Seesaw of the Dodgers/Brewers NLCS in 2018

LOS ANGELES — If you’re looking for the last truly joyful pocket of the 2018 season, it lives in the NLCS against Milwaukee. A stubborn, seesaw, seven-game fight that ended with the Dodgers dogpiling in Milwaukee and raising a second straight NL pennant. Everything after that felt like running into a freight train named Mookie Betts and the Boston Red Sox. But for one week in October, the Dodgers were clutch, crafty, and resilient enough to outlast a hot Brewers club that had stormed into the series on an 11-game heater.

From a Dodgers lens, the story begins with grit after a messy opener. Game 1 went sideways fast: Clayton Kershaw had another “postseason Kershaw” start and the defense sprang leaks, yet the lineup nearly stole it late behind Manny Machado (remember him? LOL), Matt Kemp, and Chris Taylor. They fell 6–5. The important part was the response. In Game 2, Justin Turner authored a signature Dodger moment, turning a late deficit into a 4–3 win with a two-run shot to the opposite field. Hyun-Jin Ryu and the bullpen kept L.A. within reach, then Pedro Báez bridged it to Kenley Jansen for the save. Series tied, heartbeat restored.

Game 3 was a reset the hard way. The Brewers took back home field advantage by shutting out the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine, 4–0, behind Jhoulys Chacín and a stingy relief carousel. Walker Buehler punched out eight but paid for a couple of mistakes. The bats were quiet. That set up a marathon in Game 4 that felt like two separate games stapled together. Rich Hill competed through five, the bullpen traded zeroes with Milwaukee, tempers flared around Manny Machado and Jesús Aguilar (imagine that), and then the thirteenth inning finally gave us air. Machado singled, moved up on a wild pitch, and Cody Bellinger ripped a walk-off single into right. Five hours and change. Series square again.

Game 5 was the veteran masterpiece. With everything tilting, Kershaw steadied the whole enterprise: seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts, and even two walks as a hitter to keep pressure on. Max Muncy’s RBI single pushed L.A. ahead, Yasiel Puig added a pinch-hit run, and the seventh tacked on insurance. Jansen iced it. A 5–2 win and a 3–2 series lead back in our pocket.

Then came the stumble. Game 6 in Milwaukee got away early. Ryu was ambushed in the first two innings, and although David Freese homered to start the night and doubled later, the Brewers cruised 7–2 to force a deciding Game 7. If you remember the vibe that day, it was equal parts nerves and quiet confidence: this group had been here before.

Game 7 delivered two plays that still loop on Dodger highlight reels. First, Chris Taylor’s sprinting, twisting catch in left-center to rob extra bases from Christian Yelich and keep the fifth inning clean. Second, the thunder in the sixth: Puig pounced on a Jeremy Jeffress pitch for a three-run blast that blew open a 5–1 win. Before that, Bellinger had already flipped the score with a two-run homer in the second. Buehler’s line—4⅔ innings, seven strikeouts, one run—set the tone. Ryan Madson picked up the win. Clayton took the final three outs. Back-to-back pennants for the first time since 1977–78. Bellinger was named NLCS MVP for the late heroics and steady defense.

If you zoom out across the seven games, the Dodger achievements are clear:

• Big swings in the biggest spots: Turner’s go-ahead in Game 2, Bellinger’s walk-off knock in Game 4, Bellinger’s Game 7 homer, and Puig’s dagger.
• A bullpen that learned and adjusted: after the opening stumble, Jansen locked in, Báez authored crucial holds, and the group traded zeros on the road when it mattered.
• Starters who answered the bell twice: Kershaw’s redemption in Game 5 is the headline, but Buehler’s composure in the clincher was almost as important.
• Defense that saved runs: Taylor’s Game 7 catch is the obvious one, yet the infield cleaned things up after a rough Game 1.

There were failures too, the kind that could have ended the run sooner. Game 1’s defensive meltdown and Kershaw’s short start put the team in a hole. Game 3’s shutout reminded everyone how streaky the offense could be. Game 6 showed how quickly traffic can snowball on the road. And the Machado-Aguilar dust-up became a series-long sideshow that seemed to galvanize Milwaukee’s crowd. The Dodgers had to play through all of it.

Context matters. Both clubs got to October the weird way that year, winning their divisions in tiebreakers. The Brewers owned home field. The Dodgers had added Machado at the deadline to cover for Corey Seager’s elbow and back surgeries. Milwaukee’s relief corps was a puzzle box. L.A. still solved it four times in seven tries, including a road clincher—something no NL team had done in a Game 7 since 2006.

If we’re honest, that night in Milwaukee was probably the last purely good moment of 2018. The team that awaited in the World Series was a wagon. Mookie Betts and the Red Sox ran through five games and didn’t spend much time looking back. That sting doesn’t erase what came before it. The 2018 NLCS was a reminder of why October baseball hooks you: adjustments, patience, one swing that flips a script, one catch that steals a run, and a clubhouse that keeps responding to whatever the series throws next.

Dodger-centric takeaway? When the pitching plan held shape and the defense held serve, the offense found its window. The lesson still travels. Give your lineup time. Let your starter take the air out of the chaos. Then pick your moment and hit it hard. In 2018, that blueprint carried a pennant out of Milwaukee and into a chilly Boston night.

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