Dodgers three-peat dream dies with Game 4 NLCS

The hope for a Dodgers comeback in the National League Championship Series was fleeting.

A long-awaited home run from Shohei Ohtani briefly stoked the flame. But it already had been snuffed out by the time the ultimate out landed in Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio’s glove.

The Dodgers’ hopes of making National League historical past with a three-peat died with a 6-4 loss to the Brewers on Thursday, finishing Milwaukee’s four-game sweep.

As the Dodgers’ postseason hype video declared before the sport: “October doesn’t remember who came close. It remembers who triumphs.”

The Dodgers, after reinforcing their roster from back-to-back championships in the offseason and getting into the 12 months as the World Series favorites, have been swept out of the NLCS by the group they did it to last 12 months.

When they went down 3-0 in the sequence, they confronted a steep climb that only one group in MLB historical past has overcome. But the Dodgers confirmed resolve to start the sport.

Three singles in the second inning gave the Dodgers a lead, with Andy Pages driving in the first run. It was his third hit of the postseason with runners in scoring place and the Dodgers’ fourth general. Then with two outs, Ohtani not only extended the inning but also made it the Dodgers’ highest-scoring body of the postseason, with their first home run of the sequence.

It had been a maddening couple of months as Ohtani battled accidents, slid down the batting order and failed to produce when the Dodgers needed him most — in the postseason.

Then on Thursday, with the Dodgers on the brink of elimination, one swing wiped all that away.

Ohtani bought his bat head down to a cutter from former Dodgers pitcher Dustin May on the inside nook. He lifted it into the stands for a three-run home run.

Ohtani turned to the Dodgers’ dugout, unfold his arms vast and tossed his bat to the facet. He tilted his face to the sky and yelled. He punched the air.

This was the model of Ohtani the Dodgers had sorely been lacking. He announced his return with authority. And he breathed life into a stadium that had a crowd of only 49,104 — short of a sellout.

It was his first home run since Aug. 18. And it had been even longer since he’d hit a homer fairly like that. With an exit velocity of 113.1 mph, it was his hardest-hit home run since June 20 and his third-hardest hit of the 12 months, according to Statcast.

Even more important, it was the big swing the Dodgers had been ready for all sequence.

Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow saved the nice vibes going, retiring the first 10 batters he confronted. But the Brewers, as they’d all sequence, had a comeback in them.

It started with one out in the fourth inning, as Brice Turang drew a stroll, the first baserunner against Glasnow. Then William Contreras and Jake Bauers each bounced ground-rule doubles into the stands, Bauers’ driving in two runs to cut the Dodgers’ lead in half.

Shohei Ohtani strikes out with a runner on third during the seventh inning.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

The next inning, the Brewers used a stroll, a stolen base and David Hamilton’s single to tie the rating and knock Glasnow out of it.

Then, in the sixth, Dodgers setup man Tanner Scott took the mound early, at an inflection level in the competition. He labored forward 0-and-2 in the depend to Garrett Mitchell. But Mitchell spat on three straight balls to get to a full depend.

Scott missed down the center with a fastball. Mitchell despatched it over the fence to give the Brewers the lead for the first time.

Dave Roberts continued to handle like he had hope, bringing in Edwin Díaz in the seventh to keep the sport close.

The Dodgers’ offense bought runners to third in three straight innings. In the sixth, Kyle Tucker hit a one-out double, and Teoscar Hernández moved him over with a groundout. In the seventh, Pages led off with a double, and Kiké Hernández bunted him over. In the eighth, with one out, Will Smith cut out the center man by doubling into the right-field nook and advancing to third when Milwaukee’s Sal Frelick misplayed the carom off the wall.

The Dodgers stranded all three at third, failing to rating the tying run. Max Muncy struck out in the sixth; Ohtani struck out and Mookie Betts grounded out in the seventh; and Tucker popped out and Teoscar Hernández struck out in the eighth.

Díaz did his half to keep the Dodgers in the sport, retiring eight straight batters in the longest look of his profession. But the ninth batter he confronted, Hamilton, hit a solo homer to cushion the Brewers’ lead.

The Dodgers went down 1-2-3 in the ninth, a quiet end to a once-promising season.