The two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers are staring down an elimination, one loss away from packing it in. They just fell to the MLB-best Brewers 6-2 in Game 3 of the NLCS on Wednesday night, giving Milwaukee a comfortable 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. This isn’t just about winning a series for LA, it’s about making history, trying to become baseball’s first three-peat champion since the legendary 1998-2000 Yankees. The odds? They are absolutely stacked against them.
The Brewers Are Just Different This Year
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn’t mince words after Game 3 when asked about the difference in this year’s Brewers compared to the team his Dodgers swept in last year’s NLCS. “I think they have more experience. They’re really taking great at-bats. They’re taking better at-bats than they did last year,” Roberts said. He pointed out their insane ball-in-play averages, guessing “gosh dang, it’s got to be .400. When they put the ball in play, it’s a hit.” Not only are they hitting, but they’re slugging hard, something they didn’t do last year.
Plus, Milwaukee’s defense is “everywhere and making plays,” making it brutally hard for the Dodgers to “create, build innings, and score.” Roberts recalled that last year, his team did a better job of slugging and forcing the Brewers to play from behind. Right now, it’s the Dodgers playing from way, way behind, and historically, teams that grab a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win 41 out of 42 times, with 32 of those being straight-up sweeps.
Roberts Has Seen This Movie Before, From The Other Side
If any team has a shot at becoming only the second ever to pull off a 3-0 series comeback, the Dodgers can look no further than their own dugout for the guy who literally did it. Almost 22 years ago to the day, Dave Roberts was the spark plug for the only 3-0 comeback in MLB playoff history. That was the 2004 ALCS, when his Red Sox were getting absolutely bludgeoned by the Yankees, including a brutal 19-8 Game 3 loss. Then, in the ninth inning of Game 4, Roberts stole a key base against Mariano Rivera and scored the game-tying run. Boston clawed its way to a Game 4 win in 12 innings, and then, get this, they did not lose another game the entire postseason, winning their first World Series since 1918.
Roberts knows what it takes because he’s lived it. “It’s certainly possible. I’ve lived it,” he said Wednesday when asked about the possibility of his Dodgers coming back from 3-0. He believes his “guys have been battle-tested, as was that team I was a part of.” For him, the mindset is clear: “you’ve got to win tomorrow. It’s an elimination game. We’ve played in a lot of elimination games. We’ve just got to get a win. We’ve got to find a way to build some momentum, and it takes all of us.” He even shared a thought from that 2004 team, telling MLB.com in 2020: “Even with Mo on the mound, and as bleak as things looked, we felt as if we were still in the game.”
The Batting Order Needs a Jolt, Like, Yesterday
Here’s the cold, hard truth for the Dodgers if they want to even force a Game 5, let alone complete a historic comeback: they have to hit. First and foremost. It’s been absolutely brutal at the plate for them in this NLCS. They haven’t hit a single home run in all three games, and as a team, they’ve only scored seven runs total. Their team slugging percentage? A dismal .187. And perhaps the most telling number of all: they are a pathetic 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position. You can’t win playoff games, let alone a series, with numbers like that.
So, for the Dodgers, it’s Game 4, an elimination game. Can Dave Roberts, the man who lived the impossible, inspire his current squad to find a way to get those bats alive and keep their three-peat hopes flickering? They need to find that momentum, and they need it right now.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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