The Los Angeles Dodgers are heading back to the World Series after completing a dominant four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2025 MLB NLCS. But the most remarkable part of this postseason run isn’t about how they’re chasing back-to-back world championships — it’s how they got there.
Remember when starting pitching was supposed to be the Achilles’ heel of this Dodgers team? Earlier in the season, questions swirled about how this rotation would hold up under playoff pressure. Fast forward to October, and the Los Angeles starting rotation just put together one of the most dominant postseason performances in baseball history.
The numbers tell an incredible story. Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani combined for a microscopic 0.63 ERA across 28-2/3 innings in the NLCS. That’s not just solid pitching — it’s historically elite.
Blake Snell Flirts With Perfection in Milwaukee
Snell set the tone in Game 1 with one of the most dominant playoff performances in recent history. The lefty carved up the Brewers across eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 without issuing a single walk. He faced the minimum number of batters, allowing just one hit — and that runner was quickly picked off.
It was the kind of performance that had his teammates searching for comparisons. “I can’t think of one that was just, off the top of my head, that was just so good from the start,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman.
Snell became the first pitcher in postseason history to record 10-plus strikeouts with one hit or fewer and no walks in an outing of at least eight innings.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto Goes One Step Further
Not to be outdone, Yamamoto delivered baseball’s first complete game in the postseason in eight years during Game 2. The 27-year-old Japanese star went the distance, striking out seven while allowing just three hits and one run in his team’s 5-1 victory. Sure, he gave up a leadoff homer on his very first pitch to Jackson Chourio, but Yamamoto didn’t let it rattle him.
“That was the first hitter,” Yamamoto said to reporters afterwards through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “And I feel regrettable, that home run, but I reset my mind and then I just focused on executing my own pitches.”
The performance made Yamamoto the first Japanese-born player to throw a complete game in MLB postseason history and cemented his place in the record books.
Tyler Glasnow Keeps the Momentum Rolling
With the series shifting to Los Angeles for Game 3, Glasnow made sure the Dodgers didn’t let up. The 6-foot-8 right-hander held the Brewers to just one run across 5-2/3 innings, striking out eight while navigating through some traffic with three hits and three walks allowed. His ability to work out of trouble kept the pressure squarely on Milwaukee’s offense.
Tommy Edman‘s RBI single in the sixth inning gave Glasnow all the support he needed, and the Dodgers walked away with a 3-1 victory and a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Shohei Ohtani — A Performance for the Ages
Then came Game 4 — a night that might end up living in baseball lore forever. With the Dodgers one win away from clinching the pennant, Ohtani put on a show that had teammates, opponents and fans shaking their heads in disbelief.
On the mound, Ohtani struck out 10 batters across six scoreless innings. At the plate, he crushed three long balls, including one mammoth blast that traveled 469 feet and cleared Dodger Stadium entirely.
“I don’t know what I saw today — that was beyond incredible,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “The first home run, I didn’t think he could top that, then he hits one literally out of the stadium. I’ve played a lot of games here and I’ve never seen a ball go that far.”
Shohei became the first player in MLB history to hit three home runs and strike out 10 batters in the same game, earning NLCS MVP honors and sending the Dodgers back to the World Series with a 5-1 victory.
Mariners or Blue Jays on Deck
The Dodgers now await their World Series opponent, which will be determined by the conclusion of the ALCS between the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays. The Mariners hold a 3-2 series lead, thanks to Eugenio Suarez‘s go-ahead grand slam in Game 5, putting Seattle one win away from their first-ever World Series appearance in franchise history.
The Blue Jays, meanwhile, are fighting to keep their season alive and force a winner-take-all Game 7.
Game 6 is set for Sunday night in Toronto.
The job’s not done yet, but with pitching like this and a surging Ohtani on offense, the Dodgers are beaming with confidence and have every reason to believe they can finish what they started.