The Dodgers embarked on this postseason in search of World Series three-peat history.
asserted
Dodgers → embark → history
If they are still to accomplish that now, they’ll have to make even more daunting history along the way.
asserted
they → accomplish → way
A year after they swept the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series, the shoe is suddenly, stunningly, unbelievably in danger of being put on the other foot.
asserted
shoe → sweep → foot
And unless they can become only the second team in MLB history to overcome a 3-0 hole in a best-of-seven series, the way they got there Wednesday will reverberate long into the winter –– serving as the potential death-nail in their modern-day dynasty.
asserted
they → become → dynasty
In the sixth inning, the Dodgers had finally captured momentum in this previously one-sided matchup, taking a 2-1 lead on a bases-loaded two-run double from Will Smith against hard-throwing Milwaukee reliever Abner Uribe.
asserted
Dodgers → capture → Uribe
It was the kind of moment the Dodgers had been waiting for all series: A big hit with runners on base.
asserted
Dodgers → wait → base
A late-game lead that seemed to take their season off life support.
asserted
that → seem → support
Minutes later, it would all disappear.
asserted
it → disappear → ?
After six nearly flawless innings from Blake Snell, in which he had retired 18 of 20 batters after a leadoff home run on the first pitch of the game from Jackson Chourio, the two-time Cy Young Award winner returned to the mound in the seventh with Dodger Stadium still pulsing.
asserted
Stadium → retire → seventh
Then he issued a leadoff walk, and got locked in an epic battle with Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers.
asserted
he → issue → Bauers
Just as he had done to Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a 12-pitch duel during Game 2, Bauers refused to be put away, working an 11-pitch at-bat in which he fouled off five two-strike offerings.
asserted
he → do → offerings
Finally, having exhausted all other options, Snell challenged him with a fastball in the heart of the plate.
asserted
Snell → exhaust → plate
Bauers was ready for it, clobbering a 412-foot shot halfway up the right-field pavilion.
asserted
Bauers → clobber → pavilion
Chavez Ravine went silent.
asserted
Ravine → go → ?
The Brewers had regained a 3-2 lead.
asserted
Brewers → regain → lead
The Milwaukee dugout had barely ceased celebrating before Garrett Mitchell stunned the place again.
asserted
Mitchell → cease → place
Two pitches after Bauers’ blast, Mitchell also took Snell deep on a no-doubt drive to right.
asserted
Mitchell → take → right
This time, it was on a hanging changeup, sending another shockwave through a dazed crowd of 50,708.
asserted
it → hang → 50,708
And this time, there would be no way back for the Dodgers’ offense, which went missing again after its sixth-inning outburst.
asserted
which → go → outburst
In some ways, the Dodgers’ most costly sequence might have come at the end of the sixth, when they failed to tack on more after Smith’s two-run drive.
uncertain
they → come → drive
Shohei Ohtani, having drawn the third walk against Uribe, seemed to get a late read on Smith’s ball and only made it from first to third on the play.
asserted
Ohtani → draw → play
Then, after the Brewers turned to left-hander DL Hall, Kiké Hernández and Tommy Edman both struck out to end the inning with Ohtani and Smith stranded in scoring position.
asserted
Ohtani → turn → position
That would prove to be the Dodgers’ last legitimate scoring opportunity on Wednesday.
asserted
That → prove → Wednesday
Over the final three frames, a two-out eighth-inning single from Ohtani –– who, base-running mistake aside, took a step forward after speculation of a benching following Game 2 by reaching base three times –– would be their only offense.
asserted
took → take → base
The Brewers, meanwhile, tacked on insurance runs in the eighth and ninth en route to putting the Dodgers’ season on the brink.
asserted
Brewers → tack → brink
At some point, of course, the Dodgers’ dynasty was bound to end.
asserted
dynasty → bind → course
After so many close calls the last two years, their October luck was eventually due to run out.
asserted
luck → run → calls
But not even in their worst nightmares could they have imagined a scenario like this, a loss like this, a potential sweep like this.
uncertain
they → imagine → this
Now, they either have to make history, or become history.
asserted
they → have → history
Even for the two-time defending champions, it feels like a task too big.
asserted
it → defend → task
The Aporia
