The Los Angeles Dodgers are hosting the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the 2026 NLCS on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. The Brewers bring a 2-0 series lead to Southern California, meaning they only need to win two more games to reach the World Series for just the second time in franchise history.
In terms of history, teams taking a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series in MLB history have gone 42-53 in Game 3, but have still won the series 79 out of 95 times (83.2% of the time). Teams taking a 2-0 lead at home in the LCS round in best-of-seven series all-time have gone 19-4 in the series.
This makes it an uphill battle for the Dodgers. The two-time defending World Series champions will send two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell to the hill. Snell had a 1.13 ERA in his last eight starts in the regular season and dominated the Brewers for eight scoreless outings in Game 1 of the NLCS last season. The Dodgers will also be hoping for more production from Shohei Ohtani. The superstar has not been himself for two months at the plate as he deals with knee and biceps injuries. Ohtani entered Game 3 hitting 3 for 20 in these playoffs.
The Brewers counter with Robert Gasser, a lefty who finished with a 1.67 ERA in his last six starts. They were also able to get their stellar bullpen a day of rest with the travel day on Tuesday.
Time: 8 p.m. ET | Date: Wednesday, Oct. 14
Location: Dodger Stadium -- Los Angeles
TV channel: FS1 | Live stream: fubo (Try for free)
Odds (via DraftKings): LAD -181, MIL +149 | O/U: 7.5
Will the Dodgers rebound at home? Or will the Brewers move one win away from the Fall Classic? We'll have live updates throughout NLCS Game 3. Follow along below.
The Brewers are elite -- the best in MLB -- at laying off pitches outside the strike zone, and that could be bad news for Snell, who so often struggles with his command and control. He's got the stuff to be any hitter in the zone, and that's where he needs to live in Game 3.
In MLB playoff history, teams falling behind 2-0 are 16-79 in their series. Then again, the Dodgers have never been one to shy away from a fight. Here's our Matt Snyder on why the NLCS hole isn't a grave just yet.
LF Jackson Chourio
2B Brice Turang
C William Contreras
DH Andrew Vaughn
1B Jake Bauers
CF Garrett Mitchell
SS Cooper Pratt
RF Luis Lara
3B Joey Ortiz
P Robert Gasser
SS Mookie Betts
1B Freddie Freeman
LF Teoscar Hernandez
RF Kyle Tucker
CF Andy Pages
DH Shohei Ohtani
C Will Smith
3B Miguel Rojas
2B Tommy Edman
P Blake Snell
Thanks to knee and biceps injuries – injuries that have kept him off the mound since early July – Shohei Ohtani has been struggling badly at the plate for several weeks. Going into Game 3, he has a line of .150/.261/.150 in 24 plate appearances this postseason.
The struggles are such that the Dodgers reportedly pondered replacing Ohtani in the Game 3 lineup with rookie Josue De Paula. Manager Dave Roberts and company ultimately decided against that, but Roberts did drop the slumping DH down to sixth in the batting order for what's basically a must-win game for the back-to-back defending champs.
Ohtani is usually Roberts' leadoff hitter, but he made a couple of appearances in the two hole down the stretch as his September struggles – around a stint on the injured list – took further hold. In the four-game win over the Braves in the NLDS, Ohtani batted second in Games 1 and 2 before being dropped to fifth in Game 3 and then slotted in at cleanup for Game 4. In Games 1 and 2 against the Brewers, Ohtani batted cleanup. Now he's even lower.
"I think it's just more of what gives our lineup the best balance, kind of putting people -- separating the lefties, the righties, just making it a little bit more difficult for them to try to navigate our lineup," manager Dave Roberts said before the game. "Shohei's all on board. Whatever it takes to win."
The reality is that Ohtani hasn't looked anything like his usual self at the plate since June or so. Granted, he hasn't looked as bad as he does now until the final month of the regular season, but it's been a while since the Dodgers enjoyed MVP-grade Ohtani with the bat.
