The Milwaukee Brewers lead the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0 in the National League Championship Series, and their bullpen has been the biggest story.
In Game 1, the Brewers did not get the best start out of Jacob Misiorowski. He went 4 1/3 innings, and his bullpen covered the rest of the game. They allowed two hits and three walks, but no runs and DL Hall picked up the win.
In Game 2, the Brewers once again got a short start from their starter, Logan Henderson. Henderson did not pitch poorly, but he made two errors, costing his team two runs. He also had a wild pitch that came around to score. However, the Brewers bullpen picked him up after he lasted just four innings, thanks to some extra pitches due to errors. Somehow, the bullpen was even better just one day later.
Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby covered five innings without allowing a single baserunner. They got seven of the final 15 outs via strikeouts and set an MLB record in the process. According to MLB Network's Sarah Langs, the five perfect innings by the Brewers bullpen are the most by a team's bullpen in a single game in postseason history.
The Brewers are going to Los Angeles now, and their bullpen will have gotten a day of rest. Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill are used to working on consecutive days, sometimes pitching four times in five days. The day of rest will definitely help them, and they should all be available for Game 3. Ashby has thrown multiple innings in both games of the series, but it's unlikely the Brewers will hold him back in Los Angeles.
The Brewers have also saved some of their arms. Chad Patrick, Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan have yet to throw a pitch this postseason, but manager Pat Murphy trusts all three of them. The games have just been so close that the team has relied on its top three relievers much more.
Harrison pitched like an All-Star in the first half but stumbled into the postseason, losing his starting job. Patrick and Drohan have been great for the Brewers all year, and will surely be deployed at some point in this seven-game series. All three could factor into the team's Games 3 and 4 plans.