Milwaukee, Wisconsin - William Contreras homered and drove in three runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 to take a 2-0 lead in the MLB National League Championship Series on Monday.
The Cleveland Guardians drew first blood in game one of the American League's best-of-seven showdown, coming from behind to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3.
The Brewers' victory, powered by a Milwaukee bullpen that did not give up a single hit over five innings, left the back-to-back defending champion Dodgers with a mountain to climb to reach a third straight World Series.
Hopes were high among Dodgers fans that starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Most Valuable Player of last year's World Series, would get their team back on track.
But Yamamoto, who pitched complete games in last year's NLCS showdown with the Brewers and in the World Series, did not even complete three innings.
He was hooked after throwing 75 pitches to Milwaukee's obdurate offense – most notably a 12-pitch, seven-minute Jake Bauers at-bat.
"He's one of the best pitchers in the land. It was a great at-bat. I think a turning point, I really do," said Brewers manager Pat Murphy.
The Dodgers' star batter Shohei Ohtani continued to misfire – now 3-for-20 in the playoffs, with no home run since August – but was not alone struggling against a near-perfect Milwaukee bullpen showing.
The Brewers, who led Major League Baseball with 103 regular-season wins, need two more victories to reach their second-ever World Series, 44 years after their previous appearance.
Brewers triumph in rollercoaster game
A rollercoaster game began with Teoscar Hernandez's sacrifice fly scoring Mookie Betts, but the Brewers replied in their first inning with a Contreras RBI single.
The Dodgers capitalized on a throwing error by pitcher Logan Henderson, who tried to pick off Betts at first base. His spiked throw allowed Tommy Edman to cross home plate.
An epic Brewers third inning put Milwaukee back in front. Captain Christian Yelich's bases-loaded single scored David Hamilton and Brice Turang.
By that time Yamamoto had thrown 36 pitches in the inning, and had given up three runs on four hits overall. He was promptly withdrawn.
The Dodgers retook the lead in the fifth, thanks to another Henderson throwing error on an Edman bunt. Kyle Tucker, who had hit a lead-off double, raced home, and this time Henderson was withdrawn.
His replacement Dustin May could not stop a Freddie Freeman sacrifice fly scoring Edman.
But again the Brewers responded immediately. Contreras tied the game 4-4 by crunching a solo home run off Kris Bubic over center field.
And the following inning it was Contreras yet again. Remarkably brought to the plate after the Dodgers intentionally walked Turang, his RBI single scored Hamilton.
"I took it as motivation," admitted Contreras. "I wanted to put the ball in play. I knew it was a big run there."
Milwaukee took the first two-run lead of the series in the eighth from a Turang RBI single. Turang then scored from a Bauers single to make it 7-4.
Game three takes place in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Guardians on top against Rays
The Guardians, who trailed their best-of-five division series to the Chicago White Sox 2-0 before improbably progressing, moved to a 1-0 lead against the Rays, who had the best regular-season record in the AL.
Tampa Bay scored two runs in their first inning.
Junior Caminero's single scored Yandy Diaz, before Caminero reached home plate from a Jonny DeLuca single.
There was no further scoring until the 6th, when Cleveland's Chase DeLauter homered to left center field.
The Guardians tied the score in the seventh with a Patrick Bailey home run, and then took a 4-2 lead from a Nathaniel Lowe two-run single in the eighth.
Cedric Mullins got one back with a homer, but Cleveland's ninth inning put the game to bed.
Jose Ramirez hit a two-strike, two-out RBI single to score Angel Martinez, before a Jo Adell double made it 7-3, as Ramirez and DeLauter raced home.