On Sunday evening, the NLCS will get underway between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers.
It is a rematch of the 2025 NLCS, which noticed the Dodgers sweep the Brewers in 4 video games, on their solution to a second straight World Sequence title.
Can the Dodgers hold their three-peat hopes alive, or will the Brewers lastly get again to the World Sequence for the primary time since they misplaced the 1982 World Sequence?
Right here is all the pieces you’ll want to know in regards to the 2026 NLCS.
NLCS schedule and scores
Right here is the complete schedule for the NLCS between the Dodgers and the Brewers. All instances listed are Jap.
NLCS Sport 1: Sunday, October 11
Brewers 2, Dodgers 1 (Brewers lead sequence 1-0)
NLCS Sport 2: Monday, October 12
Brewers 7, Dodgers 4 (Brewers lead sequence 2-0)
NLCS Sport 3: Wednesday, October 14
Brewers 6, Dodgers 2 (Brewers lead sequence 3-0)
NLCS Sport 4: Thursday, October 15
Brewers 6, Dodgers 4 (Brewers win sequence 4-0)
What occurred within the common season?
The NLCS would be the third sequence between the Brewers and the Dodgers this season.
The 2 groups met for a sequence in late Might, for a three-game set in Milwaukee. The Brewers took the primary recreation of that sequence, getting 5 scoreless innings from starter Logan Henderson en path to a 5-1 win within the opener.
However then the Dodgers bats got here alive, as Los Angeles received the second recreation of the sequence 11-3, and took the rubber match by a ultimate rating of 5-1.
The second sequence between these two groups got here again in mid-August in Los Angeles. However this time it was the Brewers profitable the sequence, taking a 5-4 win within the first recreation by hanging three earned runs on nearer Edwin Diaz within the prime of the ninth. After dropping the second recreation 3-1, Milwaukee received the third recreation by a ultimate rating of 4-2, and as soon as extra it was a powerful outing from Henderson on the bump that helped the Brewers clinch the sequence with a 6-2 win.
Milwaukee received 4 of the seven conferences within the common season.
However as we noticed final 12 months, the season sequence issues little within the playoffs. A 12 months in the past the Brewers swept the Dodgers, profitable all six regular-season video games.
However Los Angeles swept the Brewers within the NLCS, on their solution to a return to the World Sequence.
NLCS prediction
Selecting both crew seems like a chalky choice.
On the one aspect, you’ve got the Dodgers. A crew looking for a three-peat — which might be considered one of only a few in MLB historical past — bringing a $339-million payroll to the desk, rating second within the majors behind solely the New York Mets.
Whereas the Brewers may not have the identical monetary energy, Milwaukee not solely received the season sequence, however have been the perfect crew within the common season and secured home-field benefit for this sequence, as the highest crew within the Nationwide League. And in contrast to the NLCS from a season in the past, the Brewers are in a greater place with their pitching workers for this sequence.
And that may make the distinction.
Final 12 months, Milwaukee was pushed to a five-game sequence in opposition to the Chicago Cubs within the NLDS, and wanted to begin Jacob Misiorowski in Sport 5 to maintain their playoff hopes alive. That led to the Brewers operating out reliever Aaron Ashby forward of an injured Quinn Priester, who could be identified with thoracic outlet syndrome after the sequence, for Sport 1 in opposition to the Dodgers.
This 12 months, the Brewers have their rotation set to start the NLCS. Misiorowski will get the ball for Sport 1 and Henderson, who has but to surrender three runs or extra in any of his 24 begins over the common season and the playoffs, is in line for Sport 2.
There might be questions after that, however the Brewers are in a significantly better place to start this 12 months’s NLCS matchup in opposition to the Dodgers.
Additionally, there’s the Shohei Ohtani issue. Final 12 months the famous person delivered arguably among the best particular person performances in NLCS historical past in Sport 4, when he blasted a trio of dwelling runs whereas hanging out ten because the beginning pitcher because the Dodgers closed out the sweep.
Ohtani’s lingering accidents pressured the Dodgers to close him down as a pitcher, so solely the Brewers hurlers should fear about him within the NLCS. However he has cooled off on the plate lately, after what was a scorching-hot June. In August he posted a slash line of .241/.322/.472, and over 4 video games in opposition to the Atlanta Braves within the NLDS, Ohtani is 2-for-13 with a pair of singles, for a slash line of .154/.267/.154.
Actually the Dodgers ahve extra than simply Ohtani, who was dropped to fifth within the batting order for Sport 3, his lowest place within the lineup for his whole Dodgers tenure, however the trendline is regarding.
This needs to be a detailed sequence, and we count on it to go seven video games.
However give us the Brewers to maneuver in.
Prediction: Brewers in seven.