The Opener: Brewers Up 3-0, Bauers/Mitchell, Williams

Due to weather concerns in Cleveland, Game 3 of the ALCS has been moved up to noon CT. Plan accordingly! 1. Brewers take commanding lead Milwaukee set the tone immediately in Game 3 of the NLCS, with Jackson Chourio taking Blake Snell deep on the first pitch. Snell and Robert Gasser dueled over the first five innings. The Dodgers finally got on the board with two in the sixth inning, only for the Brewers to immediately put up three runs in the top of the seventh. The two-time defending champs will have to pull a 2024 Red Sox to keep their three-peat hopes alive. “At the beginning of this year, we set out to do something historic,” Max Muncy said (h/t Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). “It looks like we’re going to have to make a little more history along the way if we want to accomplish that.” 2. Bauers and Mitchell go back-to-back Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers put together another epic at-bat in a crucial spot. After working a 12-pitch walk against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2, he saw 11 pitches from Snell in the seventh inning last night. This time, the battle ended with a go-ahead two-run homer (video link via MLB on X). Garrett Mitchell then doubled the Brewers’ lead with a solo homer to chase Snell from the game. “I mean three home runs in a game – I didn’t give up one the whole year,” Snell told reporters (h/t again to Plunkett). “To have three in a game is pretty frustrating.” 3. Williams to start Game 3 The Guardians will hand the ball to ace Gavin Williams with the ALCS heading to Cleveland. The big right-hander was virtually untouchable in the ALDS, piling up 24 strikeouts over 11 2/3 innings. Williams earned the win in the deciding game of the series with 5 2/3 scoreless frames and a dozen punchouts. The Rays will counter with righty Griffin Jax. It’ll likely be a bullpen-heavy game for Tampa Bay, as Jax hasn’t covered more than five innings since July. Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images View Comments (0)