The two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers are one loss away from elimination. The Dodgers again fell to the MLB-best Brewers in Game 3 of the NLCS on Wednesday night (MIL 6, LA 2), giving Milwaukee a comfortable 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Los Angeles is trying to become baseball's first threepeat champion since the 1998-2000 Yankees.
"I think they have more experience. They're really taking great at-bats. They're taking better at-bats than they did last year," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Game 3 when asked about the difference between this year's Brewers and the Brewers that the Dodgers swept in the NLCS last year.
"Their ball-in-play averages, gosh dang, it's got to be .400. When they put the ball in play, it's a hit. They're also slugging, which they didn't do last year.
"Defensively they're everywhere and making plays, and it's hard for us to certainly create, build innings, and score. Where I thought last year we did a better job of slugging and having those guys play from behind." Historically, teams that have taken a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven have won 41 of 42 series, with 32 sweeps. The one comeback was, of course, the Red Sox over the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.
New York bludgeoned the Red Sox 19-8 in their Game 3 win, then Boston did not lose again the rest of the postseason en route to its first World Series title since 1918. If the Dodgers are going to become the second team to mount a 3-0 series comeback, they can look into their own dugout for inspiration. Almost 22 years ago to the day, Roberts stole a key base against Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning of Game 4, then scored the game-tying run.
Boston won Game 4 in 12 innings. "It's certainly possible. I've lived it," Roberts said Wednesday when asked about the possibility of coming back from 3-0.
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