Max Muncy isn’t looking for complicated explanations.
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday to take a 3-0 series lead. Afterward, the Dodgers third baseman gave a blunt assessment of his team’s offensive struggles to reporters.
“It’s a pretty simple answer,” Muncy said. “We’re playing like s—, they’re playing great … don’t need to overcomplicate it.”
The numbers back him up. The two-time defending World Series champions have scored seven runs in three games. They managed one run in a 2-1 loss in Game 1. In Game 2, they scored four runs in a 7-4 loss, and none of those runs came on a base hit.
On Wednesday, the Dodgers had just five hits against four Brewers pitchers.
Milwaukee left-hander Robert Gasser held the Dodgers scoreless for five innings. Los Angeles finally broke through for two runs against reliever Abner Uribe to take a 2-1 lead, but the lead didn’t last long.
In the seventh, Jake Bauers worked an 11-pitch at-bat against Blake Snell, who had retired 14 straight batters, and hit a go-ahead, two-run homer. Garrett Mitchell followed with a solo shot.
The pattern has repeated all series: every time the Dodgers have scored in the last two games, the Brewers have answered in the very next inning.
DL Hall and Trevor Megill closed it out from there, combining for 3 2/3 scoreless innings.
It’s a complete 180-degree turn from a year ago, when the Dodgers swept the Brewers in the NLCS on their way to a second straight title.
Now Los Angeles is one loss from elimination, and history is not on its side. Only one team has come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series: the 2004 Boston Red Sox.
The Dodgers will try to avoid getting swept at home in Game 4 on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET.
