The giant has been conquered.
The Milwaukee Brewers swept the Los Angeles Dodgers by defeating the reigning World Series champions 6-4 in Thursday's Game 4 to advance to the Fall Classic for the first time since 1982.
"They may have a bunch of Hall of Famers, but we have a bunch of gamers. And the gamers won this week," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said postgame.
Milwaukee will square off against the winner of the ALCS between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays.
The Brewers overcame an early four-run deficit Thursday, with Garrett Mitchell's go-ahead home run in the sixth inning proving to be the difference.
"It's absolutely surreal," Mitchell told Fox Sports' Tom Verducci when asked about hitting the round-tripper that sent the Brewers to the World Series. "I don't really got words. I'm just so proud of our team. ... You talk about the battle-tested Brewers, man. We went down early, and the belief in that dugout got stronger and stronger. We fought our butts off and got back in here."
NLCS MVP Jake Bauers had three RBIs, and David Hamilton added a homer in the ninth off Dodgers right-hander Edwin Díaz.
All four of the Dodgers' runs came in the second inning when Andy Pages delivered an RBI single, which was followed by a three-run homer from Shohei Ohtani.
The Dodgers went cold after the second frame, however. They stranded the game-tying run on third in three consecutive innings between the sixth and eighth after the Brewers fought back to take the lead. Los Angeles was 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base throughout the contest.
Left-handers JoJo Romero and Aaron Ashby pitched the final five innings for the Brewers, allowing no runs while striking out six. Romero was credited with the win, while Ashby earned his second save of the postseason after twice stranding the tying run on third with less than two outs.
"Gosh, I was just praying for a little peace in the chaos," Ashby told Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports when asked how he was able to put out the late-inning fires.
Ashby hasn't allowed a run in 12 1/3 innings during the playoffs.
Tanner Scott, who gave up the homer to Mitchell, was tagged with the loss.
The Brewers exacted revenge on the Dodgers after being swept by them in the 2025 National League Championship Series.
"We kind of knew what to expect," Ashby said of last year's experience. "We knew they were going to play us hard. Playing with that chip on our shoulder. ... Those guys played their tails off. I would die for any of these dudes. It's unbelievable. This team is awesome."
