The Brewers, the team that won the most games in the regular season, are discovering that these Dodgers are a very different challenge already in the month of October. The reigning major league champions have stifled Milwaukee.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a 3-hit complete game after allowing a first-pitch home run, and the Los Angeles offense responded quickly to support him in a 5-1 win Tuesday night that put them up 2-0 in the NL title series, both games on the road.

The Dodgers, who won Game 1 behind a masterful performance by pitcher Blake Snell, are halfway to a return to the World Series. Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Thursday in Los Angeles, as are Game 4 and Game 5 (the latter if necessary).

It was Yamamoto's first complete game in the majors and the first for a Dodgers pitcher in the playoffs since 2004. These days, complete games are rare and almost unimaginable in the postseason. There hadn't been one in MLB since 2017.

Chourio outbids Yamamoto, but Dodgers responded

The Brewers took the lead on the first pitch from starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto when Venezuelan Jackson Chourio outbid the ace by connecting a fastball up the center of the plate and sending the ball over the right field wall.

But the pleasure didn't last long for the Milwaukee fans because immediately after, at the top of the second inning, Teoscar Hernandez hooked a low pitch from starter Freddy Peralta and put it behind the left field wall to tie the game.

For the valuable Dominican slugger, it was his fourth home run and his tenth RBI in these playoffs, repeating the enormous success he had a year ago, convinced which the Dodgers management to sign him back.

Shortly after, Enrique Hernandez singled out with two outs on the board and scored on Cuban Andy Pages' double down the right line for the 2-1 Los Angeles.

Muncy and Ohtani wake up to increase the lead

In the sixth inning, Max Muncy homered to make it 3-1 and got rid of the Dominican Peralta, who pitched well.It was Muncy's first home run and first RBI of the playoffs.

The Dodgers increased their lead in the seventh by playing some small ball. Kike Hernandez opened with a double to center field to continue adding hits in October. After a sacrifice bunt by Pages, Ohtani broke out of his slump by hitting a grounder to right off left-hander Aaron Ashby for a 4-1 score.

The Dodgers lineup did an excellent job in the batter's box in this game, perhaps one of their best of the postseason in terms of discipline and good swings in two-strike counts. And playing like that, the lead continued to grow in the eighth inning, when they put runners in scoring position with one out and Tommy Edman made it 5-1 with a single that drove in Will Smith against reliever Tobias Myers.

Although Ohtani struck out with the bases loaded, the deficit had become too large for the team that led MLB in wins this year. The Dodgers, in fact, also wasted in the ninth by leaving the bases loaded with no outs.

Milwaukee ate out of Yamamoto's hand

While the Dodgers were adding runs, Yoshinobu Yamamoto recovered from his previous difficult outing against Philadelphia and returned to being the dominant pitcher of the season. The right-hander, after Chourio's leadoff home run, allowed just two hits in nine innings, allowing one walk and seven strikeouts.

The Japanese right-hander completed the eighth inning with a good defensive play by second baseman Tommy Edman for the third out. Since he had thrown 97 pitches (70 of them strikes), his manager Dave Roberts left him for the ninth inning, which he retired in order, ending with a strikeout of Andrew Vaughn with his 111th pitch of the night.

Thus, between Snell and Yamamoto, the Dodgers' starters so far in the series, they combined for 17 innings on the mound, allowing just four hits, 17 strikeouts, and one walk. It couldn't have been more dominant.