Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Game 4. What will happen? Let’s find out together.
Game 4 thoughts
Pregame
—I’m interested to see how much energy and drive the Dodgers have in Game 4. Will they go down swinging (figuratively, not literally). Will they force the Brewers to rip the title from their hands?
—Fox did a great segment on Charley Steiner before Game 3. You can watch it here. There are things you can criticize the Dodgers for, but you also have to salute them for taking care of people like Steiner and Andrew Toles. They gave Steiner some hope during his cancer battle, and that’s very important.
—One thing about Shohei Ohtani before the game begins. It’s easy to pin the 3-0 deficit on him. He’s the most famous baseball player right now, and he’s not playing well. I wish there was a lot more clarity around his injuries. However, to pin the 3-0 deficit on him is unfair. Going into Game 4, here are the batting stats:
Miguel Rojas, 1 for 2
Mookie Betts, .250, no extra-base hits or RBIs
Kyle Tucker, .250, one double, no RBIs
Shohei Ohtani, .222, no extra-base hits or RBIs
Teoscar Hernández, .200, no extra-base hits, one RBI
Tommy Edman, .167, no extra-base hits or RBIs
Andy Pages, .125, no extra-base hits, one RBI
Max Muncy, .111, no extra-base hits or RBIs
Freddie Freeman, .091, no extra-base hits, one RBI
Will Smith, .091, one double, two RBIs
Kiké Hernández, 0 for 5
Team, .165, two doubles, five RBIs
Ohtani has hit better than most of the Dodgers this series.
First inning
—The one thing that bothers me about Tyler Glasnow: It seems he gets two quick strikes on a batter, then tries to get cute with the pitches.
—Holding the Brewers scoreless in the first is nice.
—First and second, one out. Really should score a run here.
—And a double play. This could be important later.
Second inning
—Hey, they got Jake Bauers out using only four pitches. Miracle!
—And the Brewers go down quietly.
—If you mute the TV and watch an ad, but can’t tell what the ad is for without the sound, then it’s a bad ad.
—Manny Machado was in an ad. Reminds me of the old Yogi Berra quote, “Nobody likes Manny Machado.”
—Kyle Tucker has been the star of the Dodger offense.
—Here comes Dustin May to pitch for the Brewers. The Dodgers used to have a pitcher named Dustin May. I wonder if they are related.
—First and third, nobody out. It would be advantageous to score here.
—Miguel Rojas, in what could be his final game, starts, but is pinch-hit for before getting a chance to bat. You can’t let Rojas end his career like that, so a win is in order.
—Max Muncy strikes out. The worst thing you can do in that situation.
—Now, a double play?
—Andy Pages singles! Another miracle! He’s the only Dodgers who can hit in the clutch this postseason. Dodgers 1, Brewers 0.
—Kiké flies to center. Now Ohtani.
—And a majestic home run! Ohtani let about two months of frustration out with that scream after the homer. Dodgers 4, Brewers 0.
—I feel like Tom Hanks in “A League of Their Own” after Geena Davis returns to the team. “We’re gonna win!”
—Now can the Dodgers stop the Brewers from responding?
Third inning
—Glasnow is pitching great.
—Max Muncy seemed to be anticipating that bunt.
—Now if Will Smith could just get going.
—The Dodgers go down quietly. But they have a four-run lead for the first time in forever.
Fourth inning
—”Buy one Subway footlong, get one free” sounds more like a punishment than a reward.
—”Meal of Horror” describes every meal at Jack in the Box, not just this special Krusty the Klown one.
—John Smoltz tried to explain why Glasnow can be dominant, but it made no sense whatsoever.
—Will Smith makes an ABS challenge and loses. Oh well, it happens.
—Brice Turang walks. Don’t walk people with a four-run lead.
—A ground-rule double. Let’s hold them to no more than one run here.
—Another ground-rule double. Uh oh. Dodgers 4, Brewers 2.
—And the Dodgers get out of it. But Glasnow will be on a short leash.
—The Dodgers can’t just rely on four runs to carry them.
—Max Muncy gets a much-needed hit for him.
—And that ends the fourth.
Fifth inning
—Please stop walking people with a lead.
—Frelick steals second. It’s not hard to steal off of Glasnow.
—And the Brewers immediately cash in. Dodgers 4, Brewers 3.
—Evan Phillips comes in. Still has never given up a run in the postseason.
—Brewers are like the Dodgers, making the pitcher work.
—Brewers load the bases with two out. And that’s it for Phillips.
—Can Alex Vesia escape the jam against the pesky Jake Bauers?
—He cannot. Bauers walked on four pitches. Remember all the little things the Dodgers did right the last two years to win the World Series? They are doing none of those things this year. Dodgers 4, Brewers 4.
—The Dodgers go down quietly. This is beginning to feel like the first three games.
Sixth inning
—And just like that, the Brewers lead. Team of destiny. Brewers 5, Dodgers 4. Some people don’t like that I’m named Houston. Will they hate that I’m named Mitchell too? Do I have to change my whole name?
—You certainly can’t blame any of the losses on Tucker. Another hit for him.
—But the Dodgers can’t cash in. This could be important later.
Seventh inning
—It’s so funny that Edwin Díaz is the steadying presence out of the bullpen after the season he had.
—But he will remain unusable, regular season or postseason in Strat-o-matic or APBA.
—Leadoff double by Pages. Can they cash in?
—Kiké bunts! Pages to third.
—And look who’s coming up.
—And Ohtani strikes out, and looks bad doing so.
—And the Dodgers waste another chance.
Eighth inning
—Well, at least it looks like the Dodgers have a closer for next season.
—Quick inning for the Brewers. Do the Dodgers have a run in them?
—Will Smith comes through. Man on third, one out. If they don’t score here, it’s over.
—And Tucker pops out.
—And Teoscar strikes out.
—Two innings in a row, the Dodgers have a runner on third and one out and fail to score.
Ninth inning
—Maybe Díaz should have pitched earlier in this series.
—Brewers add an insurance run. Brewers 6, Dodgers 4.
—Again, the Brewers are playing like the Dodgers did the last two postseasons.
—Dodgers have been out-homered 7-1 in this series.
—Bottom of the ninth. Do the Dodgers go quietly?
—Tommy Edman grounds out.
—Pages struck out.
—Kiké lines to left.
—That’s it. Remember that Tom Hanks quote from earlier? They lost that game.
—Remember what Joe Davis said at the end of last year’s World Series? “To beat the champ, you’ve got to knock them out.” And that’s exactly what the Brewers did.
—As Max Muncy said after the game, “They were relentless with everything that they did. They just strung together good at-bat after good at-bat. That’s usually what we do. We didn’t do it this series and they did.”
—The three teams with a shot to win the World Series: The Brewers, who have never won. The Rays, who have never won. The Guardians, who haven’t won since 1948. It will be fun to see who wins.
Miguel Rojas is retiring
That was indeed the final game of Rojas’ career.
“This is it, guys,” he said, announcing his retirement after Game 4. “It’s been a lot, the last four years of my life here. And obviously making my debut here in 2014 changed my life, not just for me but for my whole family. They took care of my son, my daughter, my wife, and everybody in my family. It’s really amazing what I can think about, what happened to me and to my family the last few years.
“I just wanted to say thank you to all the veteran guys for allowing me to be myself when I got here, even though I didn’t play one game for the Los Angeles Dodgers for the last eight or nine years before I came here. They allowed me to be the leader that I wanted to be, the person that I wanted to change the culture and kind of give a little bit more of a culture, chemistry to the clubhouse. I feel like that is going to be a legacy that I wanted to leave here, other than my performance on the field. … I want them to remember me as a guy who always did everything possible to help my teammates win and to help the team get better every single day.”
Wrapping it up
I had a reader email me in the ninth inning that he felt ill watching the Dodgers play. Really? The team won the last two World Series and reached the NLCS in the third year. To feel ill or angry over this team is just the wrong way to look at it. Disappointed? Sure. Sad? Sure.
But if those feeling linger into Friday, remember that this team has given you many memorable moments over the last three seasons. They were outplayed by a better team here. Tip your cap to the Brewers. And, after the disappointment ends, thank the Dodgers for three incredible seasons. In fact, here are the Dodgers since 2016:
2016, Lost in NLCS
2017, Lost in World Series*
2018, Lost in World Series
2019, Lost in NLDS
2020, Won World Series
2021, Lost in NLCS
2022, Lost in NLDS
2023, Lost in NLDS
2024, Won World Series
2025, Won World Series
2026, Lost in NLCS
*-Astros cheated to win.
An embarrassment of riches.
Up next
That concludes the 12th season of Dodgers Dugout. We’ll be back in the next couple of weeks to discuss the offseason and whether there will even be a 2027 season.
In the meantime, today’s a new day. Look at the sunshine. Look at your family and loved ones. Everything is OK.
In case you missed it
Dodgers’ three-peat dream dies with Game 4 NLCS loss to Brewers
Plaschke: The Dodgers had everything needed to three-peat. This is why they failed
Miguel Rojas announces his retirement after Dodgers’ NLCS loss
Dave Roberts on Dodgers losing the NLCS and having no regrets
And finally
The Dodgers win the 2025 World Series. Watch and listen here.
Until next time …
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.