Game 3 of the NLCS could have been worse for the Milwaukee Brewers. But that’s not much consolation.
The Brewers got pushed to the brink of a sweep on Thursday, with a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a night made worse by young star Jackson Chourio exiting in the seventh inning due to an apparent injury. Fortunately, the injury turned out to be only cramps.
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Chourio sustained the injury on a foul ball against Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen. After swinging, the 21-year-old immediately started hopping away from the batter’s box and grabbing at the back of his right leg. The TNT broadcast speculated that he could have cramped up, but there were concerns about a worse aggravation of his hamstring injury.
After getting some attention from trainers, Chourio hopped on one foot into the Brewers’ dugout and onto the clubhouse.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy confirmed to reporters after the game that Chourio experienced “continual” cramps and the team hopes he can be ready for Game 4 on Friday:
“Chourio had continual cramps in his hamstring. He feels like he’s going to be OK, so I’m hopeful. He’s got an IV going right now. We’ll hope he’s OK.”
Chourio was similarly optimistic while speaking with reporters via an interpreter in the clubhouse:
“It was a cramp, just a cramp. I think I tried to pull the trigger a little too hard there, and maybe that’s what caused it … Right now, I feel physically good, and I think tomorrow I can play.”
The Brewers will certainly want Chourio at full strength on Friday. The 21-year-old has easily been their best hitter of the postseason, entering Game 3 slashing .320/.333/.640 with two homers and eight RBI in seven games. He also hit Milwaukee’s only home run of the series, a leadoff blast against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2.
Concerns about that hamstring, though, have plagued Chourio for months. He sustained the injury on July 29 while legging out a triple and landed on the injured list on Aug. 1. He didn’t return until Aug. 30 and struggled in September, slashing .200/.262/.337. He aggravated the injury in Game 1 of the NLDS, too, but didn’t miss any time.
Milwaukee can only hope it’s a similar story this time, as the team is already facing a tall task.
The Brewers are likely going to need Jackson Chourio if they want to pull off a comeback for the ages. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
After posting the best record in the regular season and going 6-0 against the Dodgers, the Brewers have run into a concrete wall against the postseason incarnation of the Dodgers. The L.A. rotation has mauled one of MLB’s best offenses through three games, with Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow combining to throw 22 1/3 innings with seven hits allowed, two runs, four walks and 25 strikeouts.
The Dodgers’ bullpen was supposed to be a weak point the Brewers could exploit, but Snell and Yamamoto limited that opening to one inning total in Games 1 and 2. Glasnow’s comparatively short outing (5 2/3 innings) could have given Milwaukee the runway it needed, but the quartet of Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen, Anthony Banda and Roki Sasaki combined to post 3 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing just one baserunner.
Murphy is at least taking heart in his pitching staff’s performance against an elite Dodgers lineup, but he didn’t deny his offense hasn’t been following its usual plan for success:
“That team is pretty good. So are we. We haven’t shown our best foot. 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.
“But we haven’t got the clutch hit. We’ve been a little bit foreign to how we’ve played in terms of contact.”
This Brewers’ offense was the most patient in MLB this season and one of the best at making contact. They’re an annoying bunch for opponents when everything is working, but winning on the margins means little when you’re being overwhelmed by a high-powered, high-priced group of starting pitchers.
And now, Milwaukee will have to beat the highest-power, highest-priced arm just to avoid a sweep. Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to take the mound in Game 4 against another potential bullpen game for the Brewers, with José Quintana likely to be the bulk guy. Even if they beat Ohtani, the Brewers still have to beat the same three starters who have already dominated them.
It’s a dire position for a group that had rolled through 2025 with continuous joy to this point.
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