With their backs already against the wall and then facing an early deficit, the Milwaukee Brewers came out swinging Friday night. They scored four runs on Hyun-Jin Ryu in the first inning, each coming with two outs, and pushed another two-out run across in the second.
Ryu was done after three innings and the Brewers went on for a 7-2 victory to force the National League Championship Series to a winner-take-all Game 7. After allowing a home run to David Freese to open the game, Wade Miley limited the Dodgers to just one run after that point.
He exited with two on and one out in the fifth inning. Corey Knebel retired Justin Turner and Manny Machado, then worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning. Jeremy Jeffress, who’d struggled at times in the NLCS, turned in a clean seventh inning.
Corbin Burnes followed suit to ensure the Brewers managed to save Josh Hader for Game 7. With their best reliever well rested and home-field advantage, Jeffress believes the Dodgers face more of a challenge with the circumstances.
“The pressure is the pressure. I think it’s more on them just because they’re on the road,” Jeffress said. “And we have a great starter that’s going to go right at each one of their players and hold nothing back.
And again to have our bullpen still fresh, like we are, it’s going to be a whole lot of pressure on them.”
The fiery right-hander allowed seven earned runs in 2.1 innings, amounting to a 7.71 ERA, through his first three NLCS appearances. It was in stark contrast to his performance during the regular season, but Brewers manager Craig Counsell has nonetheless remained confident in Jeffress.
Want to get your content COMPLETELY AD FREE? Click here to follow us on Apple News!
