LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles Dodgers will try today to move within one victory of their second consecutive World Series berth when they play host to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers evened the best-of-seven series at two games a piece with a 2-1 victory Tuesday as Cody Bellinger singled in Manny Machado from second base with two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning at Dodger Stadium.
Machado singled with one out after being hitless in his first five at- bats. The Dodgers had gone hitless against Junior Guerra in his first 3 1/3 innings of relief.
Brian Dozier popped out for the second out. Machado moved to second on Junior Guerra's wild pitch, then scored on Bellinger's single.
Clayton Kershaw will be the Dodgers starting pitcher, seeking to rebound from his shortest postseason start, facing fellow left-hander Wade Miley.
Kershaw allowed five runs, four earned, and six hits in three innings in Friday's 6-5 loss in Game 1 at Miller Park, dropping his career postseason record to 8-8.
Miley shut out the Dodgers over 5 2/3 innings in the Brewers 4-3 loss Saturday in Game 2, allowing two hits and striking out three. He did not walk a batter. Milwaukee had won eight consecutive games when Miley was its starting pitcher before Saturday.
The Dodgers continued to have problems getting hits with runners in scoring position in Game 4, going two for 10. They are six for 30 in the series, matching their fourth-lowest average in their 13 NLCS appearances.
Dodger hitters struck out 17 times, setting a team postseason record.
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the first when Dozier, in his first start of the 2018 postseason, singled in Chris Taylor with two outs. Taylor walked to lead off the inning.
The Dodgers missed a chance to add to their lead in the second. Yasiel Puig led off with a single and Austin Barnes followed with a walk. The next batter, pitcher Rich Hill, bunted into a force out, with Puig thrown out at third.
After Chris Taylor struck out for the second out, Justin Turner walked to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Max Muncy struck out looking to end the inning.
Milwaukee tied the score in the fifth when pinch-hitter Domingo Santana doubled in Orlando Arcia, who had singled before a crowd announced at 53,764.
Manny Pina doubled leading off the Brewers half of the seventh and moved to third on Curtis Granderson's fly out, but Ryan Madson, the third Dodger pitcher of the inning, got Lorenzo Cain to ground out to end the inning.
The Dodgers had runners on first and third with two outs in the eighth, but pinch-hitter Matt Kemp struck out to end the inning.
Brewers starter Gio Gonzalez left the game after allowing Puig's single in the second because of what manager Craig Counsell later described as a high ankle sprain.
Freddy Peralta and Corbin Burnes, the second and third of seven Milwaukee pitchers, combined to hold the Dodgers hitless from the second through the sixth. Peralta struck out six over three innings, becoming the second pitcher in postseason history to pitch at least three hitless innings and strike out at least six hitters, joining Pedro Martinez of the 1999 Boston Red Sox.
Julio Urias, the ninth Dodger pitcher was credited with the victory, shutting out the Brewers in the 13th, allowing one hit and striking out one. Hill, the Dodger starter, allowed one run and three hits in five innings, striking out six and walking three.
Guerra was charged with the loss, allowing two hits and striking out four in his team postseason-record 3 2/3 innings of relief.
Since the NLCS went to the best-of-seven format in 1985, the team with the home field advantage over the final three games has a 5-6 record when the series is tied 2-2, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, Major League Baseball's official statistician. The Dodgers are 4-8 when tied 2-2 in a best- of-seven series, the Brewers are 0-2.
The loss was Milwaukee's second in their 15 games since Sept. 23.
The five-hour, 15-minute game was the second-longest NLCS game by time, behind Game 5 of the 1999 series between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves which took 5:46.
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