Brewers defeat Rockies 6-0 to complete NLDS sweep, advance to NLCS

The Brewers are headed to the NLCS after sweeping the Rockies in the NLDS. They won 6-0 in Game 3 on Sunday evening at Coors Field, winning the club’s first playoff series since the 2011 NLDS.

Wade Miley got the start for the Brewers opposite the Rockies’ Germán Márquez. The offense gave Miley four runs of support. One came in the first inning on a Travis Shaw ground out. Jesús Aguilar smashed a solo homer in the fourth to make it 2-0. In the sixth, Rockies reliever Scott Oberg balked in a run, then allowed another run to score when he uncorked a wild pitch. Orlando Arcia and Keon Broxton tacked on back-to-back solo homers in the top of the ninth to push the lead to 6-0.

Miley tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings, yielding three hits and a walk while striking out two on 64 pitches. He exited with two outs in the fifth as manager Craig Counsell preferred having Corey Knebel face Charlie Blackmon with a runner on base. Knebel got Blackmon to strike out to end the frame.

Joakim Soria tossed a scoreless sixth. Corbin Burnes held the Rockies at bay in the seventh and eighth. Jeremy Jeffress took over in the ninth but got into some trouble, allowing a double to Trevor Story followed by a walk to Matt Holliday. Not messing around with a six-run lead, Counsell called upon Josh Hader to get the final two outs of the game. He did just that, striking out Carlos González looking before getting Ian Desmond to fly out to center field.

The Rockies managed just two runs the entire series with both runs coming in the top of the ninth inning in Game 1. In other words, they were held scoreless in 27 of 28 innings in the NLDS. Some credit is certainly owed to the Brewers’ pitching staff, but the Rockies’ offense was considered a liability heading into the series.

The NLCS will begin on Friday, so the Brewers have four days off. They await the winner of the Braves-Dodgers series. The Dodgers are going for a sweep of their own tonight.

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Unlike the Rockies, the Braves were able to stave off the opposition to avoid being swept in the NLDS, hanging on to defeat the Dodgers 6-5 in Game 3 at SunTrust Park on Sunday night.

Ronald Acuña gave the Braves an early jolt, swatting a grand slam to left field in the second inning against Walker Buehler, who had been living up to his first name. That put the Braves up 5-0 early.

The Dodgers chipped away at their five-run deficit, scoring a pair of runs in the third inning that was aided in part by a misplay by Acuña in left field when Justin Turner grounded a single. In the fifth, Chris Taylor drilled a two-run homer to left field off of Kevin Gausman to cut the deficit to 5-4. Later in the inning, in a battle of Maxes, pinch-hitter Muncy bested reliever Fried as Muncy lifted a game-tying solo homer to center field to knot the game at five each.

In the bottom of the sixth, Freddie Freeman took matters into his own hands. Alex Wood took the mound to start the frame, tossing a first-pitch, 83 MPH change-up that Freeman promptly deposited into the stands in right field for a solo homer.

Chad Sobotka tossed a scoreless seventh and A.J. Minter did the same in the eighth. The Braves handed the ball to Arodys Vizcaíno in the top of the ninth to preserve the 6-5 lead. He got into a sticky situation, giving up a leadoff single to Joc Pederson, then walking Turner. Vizcaíno rebounded in a big way, striking out Muncy, Manny Machado, and Brian Dozier consecutively to end the game.

The Braves won their first postseason game since Game 2 of the 2013 NLDS when they beat the Dodgers 4-3. They are hoping to win two more games in a row to advance out of the Division Series for the first time since 2001.

The Dodgers will get another opportunity to eliminate the Braves on Monday. Game 4 will start at 4:30 PM ET and will be broadcast on FS1. If the Dodgers advance, they will return to the LCS for a third consecutive year.

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