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Former Cy Young winner questions Dodgers pitch selections in NLCS

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Cite

Martinez, V. (2026, October 18). Former Cy Young winner questions Dodgers pitch selections in NLCS. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/17/sports/former-cy-young-winner-questions-dodgers-pitch-selections-nlcs/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-18 · by Valentina Martinez

Quick Summary

John Smoltz, a former pitcher, criticized the Dodgers' pitching choices during their National League Championship Series loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers swept the series despite trailing in every game except for one where they were down by four runs. Smoltz noted that veteran pitchers should not make such mistakes and suggested that poor pitch selections allowed the Brewers to capitalize on key moments, leading to the shocking outcome of the series.
Written by AI on 2026-10-18, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Milwaukee Brewers swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series (NLCS), advancing to the World Series for the first time since 1982. The Brewers won all four games, marking an unexpected upset against the two-time defending champions. Key moments included Game 3, where Garrett Mitchell hit a go-ahead home run, and the bullpen's crucial late-game performances throughout the series. Former Cy Young winner John Smoltz criticized the Dodgers' pitch selections, noting they put the Brewers in advantageous positions. The World Series will feature the Brewers against either the Cleveland Guardians or Tampa Bay Rays, starting on October 23rd. This matchup highlights teams known for their strategic approach and athleticism over financial might.

Written for “Brewers Sweep Dodgers To Reach World Series” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 36 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Brewers Sweep Dodgers To Reach World Series
Sports · 37 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 10% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 13 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the NLCS game and series, with Article A focusing on Blake Snell's start and a specific home run by Jackson Chourio in Game 3, while Article B focuses on criticism of pitch selections and performance across multiple games.”
New York Post
Hedges 6 of 49 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 23 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the NLCS between the Dodgers and Brewers, with Article A focusing on Blake Snell's observations about Milwaukee's team dynamics while Article B discusses criticism of the Dodgers' pitching performance.”
Fox News
Hedges 4 of 26 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles discuss the Dodgers' loss to the Brewers in the NLCS, Article A focuses on the Brewers' manager's comments about the series victory, while Article B highlights an analysis by John Smoltz regarding the Dodgers' pitching strategy.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 20 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss Yoshinobu Yamamoto's performance during a game in the NLCS, Article A focuses on Yamamoto's immediate reaction after his poor inning, while Article B is an analysis by John Smoltz about the entire series and includes broader criticism of pitch selections.”
New York Post
Hedges 2 of 8 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss the Dodgers' loss to the Brewers in the NLCS, Article A focuses on the general disappointment and prediction of the end of the Dodgers dynasty by a former MVP, while Article B specifically addresses criticism of the Dodgers' pitch selections during the series. The two articles are covering related aspects but not the same specific incident.”
New York Post
Hedges 2 of 34 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different aspects of the NLCS; one focuses on Blake Snell's performance in Game 3 while the other discusses overall pitching strategy and criticism.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 2 of 28 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A describes Yoshinobu Yamamoto's poor performance in a single game of the NLCS on October 13, while Article B discusses broader pitch selection criticism for the entire Dodgers' rotation during the series which ended with them being swept by Milwaukee.”
Fox News
Hedges 2 of 49 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the NLCS series between Dodgers and Brewers; Article A focuses on Game 2 while Article B discusses the overall performance leading to a sweep.”
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 10 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss the Dodgers' performance in the NLCS against the Brewers, Article A focuses on Derek Jeter's comments about the team's situation after losing the first two games, whereas Article B discusses pitch selection criticism by John Smoltz after a later phase of the series.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
10
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
10%
1 of 10 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
37
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16794 article(s) · 36 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 36 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Valentina Martinez
135 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 That’s what I would expect,” Kerr said on KNBR.
🔮 Golden State will have to face the Dream once more, but in front of adoring fans at Ballhalla, which could very well play a role in fueling the Valkyries to a victory.
🔮 Warriors star Draymond Green weighed in on the unusual start time for Game 6 and explained why State Farm Arena wasn’t willing to move the matchup to a later time.
🔮 There is now growing concern within the organization Porzingis may never play again for the Warriors, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN.
🔮 If the Valkyries win Game 6 on Thursday, however, there’s a chance the championship celebration will be moved to a practice court.
🔮 But Draymond Green still believes the Lakers superstar will never win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award.
🔮 There’s no guarantee the Rams will play in this season’s Super Bowl, but Jay-Z has officially been announced as the halftime performer.
🔮 They didn’t know if we could still do it,” Rojas said on MLB Network.
🔮 If Golden State or Atlanta manage to win back-to-back contests, then Game 6 would be the clincher.
🔮 Next, the Trojans will have to face No. 3 Ohio State and No. 6 Indiana after a harrowing loss to the unranked Badgers.
Also by Valentina Martinez
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 135 articles by Valentina Martinez →

Topics

Brewers Dodgers Milwaukee NLCS the National League Championship Series

Subjects

Dodgers ORG · 4× Milwaukee GPE · 2× Smoltz PERSON · 2× Blake Snell PERSON · 1× Brewers ORG · 1× Joe Davis PERSON · 1× John Smoltz PERSON · 1× Tarik Skubal PERSON · 1× Tyler Glasnow PERSON · 1× Yoshinobu Yamamoto PERSON · 1×

Narrative

“In my opinion, there were some pitch selections — I don’t know if it came from Will Smith or it was the pitcher himself — and they put the Milwaukee Brewers in a position to flex their muscles when the Dodgers should have been flexing theirs.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-18
🔮 “In my opinion, there were some pitch selections — I don’t know if it came from Will Smith or it was the pitcher himself — and they put the Milwaukee Brewers in a position to flex their muscles when the Dodgers should have been flexing theirs.
2026-10-18 · New York Post
Former Cy Young winner questions Dodgers pitch selections in NLCS · assertive framing

Claims (10 extracted, 1 hedged)

John Smoltz got a firsthand look at the Dodgers’ collapse in the National League Championship Series. asserted
Smoltz → get → Series
On the call with play-by-play announcer Joe Davis, the former Cy Young winner watched every pitch from the Dodgers’ rotation. asserted
winner → watch → rotation
Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow comprised the lethal group, but none of the elite hurlers made it past the fifth inning against a red-hot Brewers lineup. asserted
none → comprise → lineup
Smoltz criticized the Dodgers’ pitch selections in the NLCS, where the back-to-back World Series champions were swept by Milwaukee. asserted
champions → criticize → Milwaukee
“They pitched well, but they didn’t pitch good enough in situations where veteran pitchers should not be making those mistakes,” Smoltz said on the Flippin’ Bats podcast. asserted
Smoltz → pitch → podcast
“In my opinion, there were some pitch selections — I don’t know if it came from Will Smith or it was the pitcher himself — and they put the Milwaukee Brewers in a position to flex their muscles when the Dodgers should have been flexing theirs. asserted
Dodgers → be → theirs
“It was the most shocking scenario that I could have seen from a standpoint, all right, lay out the series, this is how Milwaukee’s gonna win. uncertain
Milwaukee → see → series
There’s no way you said they’re gonna win trailing every game, never being down, with the exception of the last game being down by four. asserted
game → ’ → four
They were gonna out-homer, they were gonna hit better with runners in scoring position, that isn’t as shocking they did that in the regular season. asserted
they → go → season
And they were gonna dominate from the bullpen in a way that we have never seen.” asserted
we → go → that
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