The Milwaukee Brewers did exactly what they needed to do, taking Game 1 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers at home behind Jacob Misiorowski. Milwaukee secured a 2-1 victory and will now turn to Logan Henderson in hopes of taking a commanding 2-0 series lead. Henderson went 11-3 with a 2.47 ERA during the regular season and continued his strong pitching in the NLDS, allowing just one run on two hits over five innings against the Padres.
The Dodgers will counter with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who went 14-9 with a 2.53 ERA during the regular season. Yamamoto was fantastic against the Braves in the NLDS, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out 10 over seven innings. This will likely be another excellent pitching duel, but I’m siding with the Brewers as home underdogs. Henderson has been terrific against the Dodgers this season, going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA, while Yamamoto is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA against Milwaukee.
Offensively, the Brewers are batting .247 and averaging three runs per game in the postseason, compared to the Dodgers .207 batting average and three runs per game. Milwaukee was excellent at home this season, going 55-26, and with home-field advantage and Henderson’s success against Los Angeles, I expect another close battle, but the value lies with the Brewers at home.
Dodgers vs Brewers prediction: Brewers ML (+120) available at time of publishing. Playable to +100.
