The reigning World Series champion Dodgers are one win away from returning to the Fall Classic. The Dodgers again beat the MLB-best Brewers in Game 3 of the NLCS on Thursday night (LA 3, MIL 1), giving them a comfortable 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Los Angeles is poised to become the first reigning champ to return to the World Series since the 2008-09 Phillies.
“That team is pretty good. So are we. We haven’t shown our best foot,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after the Game 3 loss. “Like I said, if you would have told me the Dodgers would score 10 runs in three games, what would be the score? If you said 2-1 us, or 1-2 them, you wouldn’t say 0-3.”
Historically, teams that have taken a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven have won 40 of 41 series, with 31 sweeps. The one comeback was, of course, the Red Sox over the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. New York bludgeoned the Red Sox 19-8 in their Game 3 win, then Boston did not lose again the rest of the postseason en route to its first World Series title since 1918.
If the Brewers are going to become the second team to mount a 3-0 series comeback, they can look to the Dodgers’ dugout for inspiration. On this date in 2004, current Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stole a key base against Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning of Game 4, then scored the game-tying run. Boston won Game 4 in 12 innings.
Here is Roberts’ steal and Boston’s ninth inning comeback in Game 4:
“Even with Mo on the mound, and as bleak as things looked, we felt as if we were still in the game,” Roberts told MLB.com in 2020.
For the Brewers to mount a 3-0 comeback (or even just force a Game 5), they have to hit, first and foremost. Milwaukee has scored exactly one run in each game and it has nine hits total in the NLCS. It is slugging — slugging — .180 as a team. The Brewers have pitched well in the NLCS. The offense has been a total no-show.
A comeback will take scoring runs (duh) and likely a signature moment, like Roberts’ steal. It doesn’t have to be a stolen base. Maybe it’s a pitcher getting a key strikeout, or a big hit, or a big defensive play. There are lots of ways to have a signature moment in this sport. On this day in 2004, Roberts did it with his legs. Will the Brewers find a way to do it Friday night?