Holding 2-0 Lead, Pat Murphy Will Need to Maintain His Stern Approach to Get Brewers to World Series

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If you think Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has been a little edgy this season, you are correct. And that edginess is needed at its most right now.

With the Brewers feeling good after taking the first two games of the NL Championship Series at American Family Field against the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Murphy and his staff are about to find out how much this approach has taken hold of his young players.

"I respect the Dodgers a great deal. That's all there is to it," Murphy said after the 7-3 win in Game 2. "They're arguably one of the best teams ever put together. They're a great team. And I'm not going to think about anything but the next game. That's it. Just one inning, one pitch at a time. Don't look ahead. Don't plan. Don't complain, explain. Just keep going."

But that is hard to do when your team is two wins away from returning to the World Series for the first time since 1982. Teams winning the first two games of any best-of-seven postseason series have gone on to win the series 79 of 95 tries (83.2%). Teams that are up 2-0 after winning both at home in the current 2-3-2 format have won 46 of 57 series (80.7%).

Murphy is channeling his inner Han Solo: "Don't ever tell me the odds." He knows full well that if there is one team that can flip those odds, it is the Dodgers with their star-studded roster and back-to-back World Series rings.

That feat has been done very recently. Just last year, the Toronto Blue Jays lost the first two of the AL Championship Series at home to the Seattle Mariners, then won the next two on the road, then both at home to advance to the World Series. That was the latest of the 16 comebacks from 2-0 deficits, six of which have happened in the LCS. Of the 16 instances, 12 were pulled off by the team that did not have home-field advantage.

It also happened in 2023, when the Philadelphia Phillies were up 2-0 in the NLCS after outscoring the Arizona Diamondbacks 15-3. The D'backs won the next two, lost Game 5, then won the final two games on the road in Philadelphia to move on to the World Series.

The Dodgers were down 2-0 to Atlanta in the 2020 NLCS, played at a neutral site due to the pandemic, and were also down 3-1 after dropping Game 4. Los Angeles, which had the best MLB record that season at 43-17, won the next three games at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, then won the World Series at the same venue.

Before that, the last time a comeback like that happened was even more spectacular. That was the 2004 ALCS in which the Boston Red Sox lost the first three, then won the final four en route to winning the World Series, ending their historic 86-year drought.

Murphy's challenge will be to keep the younger players in check. He has a few veterans to rely on, led by captain Christian Yelich, as well as injured right-hander Brandon Woodruff, outfielder Sal Frelick and former Dodger Dustin May, who was on that 2020 L.A. championship team.

However, with the mentality that Murphy has instilled since the first day of spring training, it shouldn't be a tough task to keep the players focused on the task at hand. That is winning Game 3. Then winning Game 4. One game at a time.

Until the Brewers actually get that fourth win and can celebrate actually going to the World Series for the first time in 44 years, Murphy will need to maintain the edge he has had all season. Benching rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt to teach him about running everything out. Removing rookie right-hander Brandon Sproat mid at-bat because he wasn't throwing strikes.

That edge is as important as ever now. The Dodgers have the players who can flip the switch at a moment's notice. Mookie Betts single, Freddie Freeman double, Kyle Tucker homer. Bam. Three runs. The Brewers' pitching has handled that lineup well through two games. Only two Dodgers have more than one hit (Betts and Teoscar Hernandez have two).

Remember, these Dodgers were down 3-2 to the Blue Jays in last year's World Series, then won two the final two in Toronto for their second straight World Series title.

"The way I look at it, you're climbing a mountain, and you're getting really close to the top, and when you are, usually that path narrows a little bit, you know what I mean? It's not as wide," Murphy said Tuesday. "When you start the mountain, it seems like this wide. Then as you get closer and closer, most mountains are like that.

"I think, as you get closer, you've just got to keep your footing, keep your head down, make sure you keep your footing, and you can't look too far ahead. When you look up for the prize, 'Oh, where's the top?' you might step in a crack or a pothole. You've got to keep your head down and go forward and don't — adversity is coming. You know all that kind of stuff could possibly come, whatever, just keep responding, keep your head down, and keep going."

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Steve Drumwright grew up in Wisconsin and was forced out of youth baseball when he failed to make enough contact to play the sport he loves. He did make one memorable pitching appearance, summoned from right field in a blowout. Steve went on to a successful journalism career, beginning as a part-time high school sportswriter in small-town Wisconsin to becoming the No. 2 person in the newsroom in San Francisco. Steve enjoys telling the stories of other people and how sports is a terrific vehicle for telling those stories. He now lives in Southern California. Follow him on Bluesky.