The Dodgers and Brewers played for more than five hours in Game 4 on Tuesday before Cody Bellinger's RBI single in the 13th inning scored Manny Machado from second base and gave L.A. a 2-1 victory and tied the National League Championship Series at two-apiece. Now, for Game 5, both teams are going to look to their starting pitchers to carry the team as far as they can since the bullpens were taxed in the 5-hour, 15 inning-long marathon. 

The Dodgers are sending veteran lefty Clayton Kershaw to the mound in Game 5 in what could be his last game as a Dodger. Kershaw has an opt-out clause in his seven-year, $205 million contract after the season and has 10 days after the World Series ends to reveal his decision. The 30-year-old will be looking for redemption in Los Angeles' third and final home game of the series, after his three-inning outing in the NLCS Game 1 loss at Miller Park.

The Brewers will turn to Wade Miley, who was dominant in his Game 2 start giving up only two hits in 5 2/3 innings. Including his Game 2 start, Miley has faced Los Angeles three times this season and hasn't allowed a run while striking out 10 batters in 18 2/3 innings of work. In Miley's lone start at Dodger Stadium this season, he limited the Dodgers to two hits in seven shutout innings in a 1-0 Brewers victory. It'll be interesting to see how long Miley will stay on the mound in Game 5 before manager Craig Counsell turns to his bullpen.

NLCS Game 5: Dodgers vs. Brewers

  • Date: Wednesday, Oct. 17
  • Time: 5:09 p.m. ET
  • Location: Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles
  • TV channel: FS1
  • Streaming: fuboTV (Try for free) 
  • Live stats: GameTracker
  • Odds: Dodgers -174 / Brewers +162
  • Picks: Check SportsLine's MLB pick sheet for all your daily odds.

Storylines

Dodgers: The Dodgers come into this game with the momentum and it's not because they have necessarily been out-playing Milwaukee, but simply because they were the team to walk away with the win after a 15-inning marathon game. When the NLCS was in Milwaukee, the Dodgers were only able to produce six runs against the acclaimed Brewers' bullpen. Now that the series has shifted to Los Angeles, the Dodgers offense appears to be struggling against all pitchers. Even while getting the win in Game 4, the Dodgers have scored just three runs over their last 22 innings, and those innings were all played in their own ballpark. The Dodgers went just 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and 11 runners were left stranded in Tuesday night's game. Los Angeles has to end their trend of leaving runners in scoring position if it wants to win another game in this series.

Brewers: The Milwaukee offense has struggled too, going scoreless over the final eight innings while facing eight pitchers on Tuesday. Lorenzo Cain is 1 for 15 in Games 2-4. Christian Yelich is 3 for 16 in the series including a bunt hit and an infield hit. Mike Moustakas is 2 for 17 after joining Cain in the 0-for-6 club in Game 4. While the bullpen struck out 17 batters over 11 consecutive scoreless innings, Milwaukee's offense went hitless in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners total against nine Dodgers pitchers. After missing out on the chance to take a commanding 3-1 series lead, the offense really needs to get things going in this pivotal Game 5 on the road, if they want to steal the momentum back. 

Game prediction, picks

After the Dodgers emptied their bullpen in Game 4, they still seem to have the entire bullpen available for Game 5 while the Brewers are going to be down at least two relievers. So the pitching advantage leans a little bit more toward L.A. than it does Milwaukee. With Kershaw on the mound at home and the fact that the Dodgers are 4-8 when tied 2-2 in best-of-seven NLCS, compared to the the Brewers who are 0-2, leads me to think the Dodgers will take Game 5 and the series lead before going to on the road to Milwaukee for Game 6 on Friday.

Pick: Dodgers -174

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