MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin was celebrating Thursday night: The Milwaukee Brewers capped a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) to reach the World Series — the first for the organization in 44 years.

The Brewers won a franchise-record and MLB season high 103 wins during the regular season. They then defeated the San Diego Padres in the divisional series, 3-games-to-1. Facing the back-to-back Dodgers in the NLCS — the team that swept the Brewers in four games in 2025 — Milwaukee rallied from behind in all four games. The first two wins came in Milwaukee, with the second two — including the clincher — in Los Angeles.

First baseman Jake Bauers was named NLCS MVP thanks in part to his clutch batting prowess. Bauers three in the series worked a long count against All-Star pitchers that ended in runs. In Game 2, with two outs in the third inning trailing 2-1, he took Yoshinobu Yamamoto 12 pitches deep to earn a walk, loading the bases. Two pitches later, Brewers captain Christian Yelich hit a two-run single to give Milwaukee a 3-2 lead. Then, in the bottom of the eighth inning, leading 6-4, Bauers singled to center to score Brice Turang for a key insurance run, and the Brewers went on to win 7-4.

In Game 3 on Wednesday, LA took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Andrew Vaughn led off the top of the seventh with a walk, and then Bauers took two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell into another deep full count. On the 11th pitch of the at-bat, Bauers hit a no-doubt home run to right center to put Milwaukee ahead 3-2. They went on to win 6-2.

Facing elimination in Game 4 on Thursday, the Dodgers scored four runs in the second to take a commanding lead. Milwaukee chipped away over the remaining innings, however.

In the bottom of the fourth, with two on and one out, Bauers hit a ground-rule double into the right field seats on the sixth pitch he saw to plate two runs.

One inning later, with the Brewers behind 4-3, Bauers stepped to the plate with two outs and bases loaded and drew a four-pitch walk off of southpaw reliever Alex Vesia, fresh out of the bullpen. That tied the game at 4-4.

Garrett Mitchell and David Hamilton hit home runs later in the game as Milwaukee won 6-4.

“The bottom line is, right now, they (LA) got a bunch of Hall of Famers. We got a bunch of gamers,” manager Pat Murphy said after the game separately to his team and during the national broadcast postgame interview.

The Brewers became the first team in baseball history to be swept in a four-game series by one team and then sweep the same team the following year, let alone sweeping a two-time defending World Series champion.

The Brewers have eight days to rest until Game 1 of the World Series, which is scheduled for Friday, October 23. Milwaukee’s opponent isn’t decided yet, either, as Cleveland and Tampa Bay had only played three games of the ALCS as of Thursday night, with Cleveland ahead 2-1 in the series.

Cleveland hasn’t won a World Series since 1948, while the Brewers and Rays have never won a World Series. Cleveland has reached the World Series six times total, winning it all in 1920, and losing in 1954, 1995, 1997 and 2016. Tampa reached the World Series but lost in both 2008 and 2020.

The City of Milwaukee’s lone World Series championship came in 1957 when the Braves franchise was in town, just a few years before relocating to Atlanta. In 1982, Milwaukee reached the World Series, only to lose to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7. That team featured future Hall of Famers Robin Yount, Paul Molitor Ted Simmons and Rollie Fingers