Bauers' epic homer rocks Dodgers in Game 3 as Brewers seize 3-0 NLCS lead - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — In Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, a 12-pitch walk drawn by the Milwaukee Brewers' Jake Bauers was one of the spotlight moments of a series quickly tilting against the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. In Wednesday night's Game 3, Bauers needed only 11 pitches to push L.A. to the brink.

Bauers' stunning two-run blast off two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell turned a one-run deficit into a one-run lead in the seventh inning. The Brewers kept tacking on runs from there, beating the Dodgers 6-2 on Wednesday and moving them one win from their first World Series berth since 1982.

«It's incredible,» Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. «Incredible at-bat.»

Game 3 started in an equally incredible fashion. Jackson Chourio hit Snell's first pitch over the right-field fence, giving the Brewers the lead before the official scorer had even announced the official game time and weather conditions. The blast came one year to the day of Chourio's first-pitch homer off the Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 of last year's NLCS. Yamamoto recovered from that early blow to throw a complete game, the second win of the Dodgers' sweep of Milwaukee.

«I was still putting my batting gloves on to get ready,» Bauers said of Chourio's shot. «I just saw the ball flying, and I knew he got it. It kind of set the tone for the day and let everyone know that we're here to win this game.»

After Chourio's homer, Snell dominated the Brewers' lineup through the sixth inning, striking out nine and retiring 14 straight heading into the seventh. He had thrown just 81 pitches.

Snell seemed to be replicating Yamamoto's gem from last year, but then Andrew Vaughn worked a leadoff walk in the seventh. Vaughn was replaced