Aaron Ashby just sealed the Milwaukee Brewers’ first pennant since 1982, throwing a dominant three-inning save in Game 4 of the NLCS to sweep the Los Angeles Dodgers right out of their own stadium. That’s a performance that doesn’t just happen, man, it was only the fifth save of three innings or longer in a postseason clinching game since 1969. Seriously, the dude made history last night.
Milwaukee’s Bullpen Is Built Different
Let’s be real, the Dodgers walked into a buzzsaw with Milwaukee’s bullpen, especially in this postseason. Trevor Megill, Aaron Ashby, and Abner Uribe have been an absolute brick wall, allowing just three runs, two of them earned, over a ridiculous 24 1/3 innings with 23 strikeouts. That’s pure dominance. Ashby himself has been on another level, pitching in six of the Brewers’ eight games, logging 12 1/3 scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts. We saw him do work in Game 1 of the NLCS with two scoreless frames, then he came back and got a five-out save to close out Game 2. Even Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman was talking about it before Game 4, specifically calling out Ashby’s stuff. “Ashby, I don’t understand that. It’s 98 to 100 from up here and sinking and curving,” Freeman said. “They’ve just got a lot of weapons.” And boy, did they ever show it.
Chaos, Calm, and a Clinching Catch
Game 4 was a tense one, even with the sweep on the line. Ashby was out there in the seventh and eighth innings, allowing a double in each that put the tying run in scoring position. But did he fold? Nah, man, he stranded ’em both. He told Ken Rosenthal on the field after the game, “I was just praying for a little peace in the chaos, because with this crowd and this team, things can happen fast. I was just trying to be calm out there, that’s pretty much it.” He totally owned that ninth inning too, retiring the Dodgers in order. That was his 31st relief appearance of multiple innings this season, tying him for the most in the majors. The clinching moment? Jackson Chourio made a beautiful running catch in left field, securing that pennant and sending the Brewers to the World Series. It was an epic way to cap off an incredible series and an even more incredible individual performance.
The Brewers are now headed to the World Series, riding the biggest wave of bullpen dominance we’ve seen in a long time. For the Dodgers, it’s a crushing end to a season where they didn’t even make the Fall Classic. You know what’s kinda wild? They didn’t have a single save of at least three innings all year, their first full season without one since 2016. Coincidence? Maybe. But you gotta wonder if sometimes those long relief efforts are just what a team needs to push through. Milwaukee proved it, and now they’re playing for it all.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by True Blue LA.
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