Brewers have their best possible chance to expose Dodgers with NLCS shifting to LA

The Dodgers' starting pitchers have barely put a foot wrong through the first two games of the NLCS. Blake Snell pitched eight one-hit innings in Game 1 and the Brewers only threatened when the Dodgers' shoddy bullpen took over. Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run on a first-pitch homer in Game 2, but otherwise shut Milwaukee down with a complete game.

It's now or never for the Brewers as the series heads back to Dodger Stadium for three games, but they might finally have their best chance at getting even with LA's next two probable starters.

Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani, while excellent so far, aren't Snell or Yamamoto. Glasnow showed some cracks in his first appearance against the Phillies when he came into Game 1 in relief behind Ohtani. He put two runners on in the eighth and was pulled before he could get his last out. Ohtani had already given up three runs in six innings that day (though some of that could be blamed on shoddy Dodgers defense).

Even if the Brewers can't turn hits into runs against Glasnow or Ohtani, if they put up competitive at-bats and drive up pitch counts more than they did with Snell and Yamamoto, they should be able to get to the Dodgers' bullpen — and then things will get hairy.

Dodgers' strategy of completely avoiding their bullpen could come to an end with the back half of the rotation due up

Glasnow and Ohtani do have some margin for error that they can thank Snell and Yamamoto for, but they'll be challenged with giving the Dodgers at least six innings — preferably more — to keep avoiding the bullpen for as long as possible.

We haven't given up on Roki Sasaki yet, but him nearly blowing Game 1 did give fans some pause. The other young guys — Jack Dreyer, Emmet Sheehan, Ben Casparius, and Justin Wrobleski — are still mostly untested in the postseason. Heaven knows that no one wants to see Blake Treinen on the mound, especially if things are close.

The Dodgers have made their trip through the postseason look easy so far; while it's been great fun for Dodgers fans, it does feel like something has to give at some point, and the Brewers may have their best shot at turning the tides in LA.