Yelich Drives Brewers Past Dodgers After Bauers Draws 12-Pitch Walk

Milwaukee's patient approach at the plate helped the Brewers build a decisive rally against the Los Angeles Dodgers, as Christian Yelich delivered a two-run go-ahead single after Jake Bauers battled through a 12-pitch plate appearance against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the National League Championship Series. The sequence highlighted how the Brewers generated runs through discipline and baserunning despite ranking near the bottom of the majors in home runs.

According to MLB.com, Milwaukee scored the second-most runs in the majors during the regular season, totaling 832, while hitting just 154 home runs, the second-lowest total in the league. The Brewers also stole 162 bases, with only four teams recording more.

The rally began when David Hamilton singled from the ninth spot in the batting order and stole second base. It was Hamilton's first stolen base of the postseason; he had led Milwaukee with 30 steals during the regular season.

Brice Turang followed with a six-pitch walk, showing patience against Yamamoto after recording a double and scoring earlier in the game. William Contreras then flew out, setting up a prolonged confrontation between the Dodgers starter and Bauers, Milwaukee's first baseman.

Manager Pat Murphy had also been reconsidering his lineup decision involving Yelich before Game 2. Murphy left the outfielder out of the starting lineup in Game 1 against left-hander Tarik Skubal, opting for Andrew Vaughn, who delivered a double in Milwaukee's victory.

Murphy acknowledged that he might approach the decision differently in the future.

"I don't know if I'd do that again," Murphy said. "Yeli going the way he's going, it's a great statement for our team, and everybody recognizes here's our MVP, here's our guy that has done so much. And he stood there and was as good a teammate as you could ever believe, but in retrospect, I'm happy it happened, but I don't know that I'll do it again."

Yelich subsequently delivered the decisive hit during Milwaukee's extended third-inning rally. His single to center field came two pitches after Bauers completed his lengthy plate appearance and gave the Brewers the lead.

Bauers worked the count to three balls and two strikes before fouling off six consecutive pitches with two strikes. Two of those foul balls came close to Dodgers defenders along the third-base line, but neither resulted in an out.

After seven additional pitches beyond the initial five-pitch exchange, Bauers took ball four on the 12th pitch. According to MLB.com, the plate appearance lasted seven minutes and four seconds, tied the longest of Bauers' career by pitch count, and loaded the bases for Yelich.

The walk was the 12th postseason plate appearance of at least 12 pitches since pitch counts began being tracked in 1988. It was also the longest plate appearance by any hitter against Yamamoto in the major leagues.

Yelich then hit a two-run single on Yamamoto's 36th pitch of the inning and 75th of the game. The Dodgers starter recorded eight outs in the inning before reliever Alex Vesia entered and ended Milwaukee's threat.

The extended rally marked a breakthrough against Yamamoto, who had previously limited Milwaukee's offense. According to MLB.com, he pitched a complete game against the Brewers in Game 2 of the 2025 NLCS at the same ballpark, then allowed two earned runs over 13 innings across two starts against Milwaukee during the 2026 regular season.