Defending champions have no chance – baseball sensation for the Los Angeles Dodgers

The Milwaukee Brewers are back in the World Series, the final games of the US Baseball League, for the first time in 44 years. In the fourth game of the MLB semifinals, they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers led by superstar Shohei Ohtani 6:4, thus completing a 4-0 victory against the two-time defending champions. It's a baseball sensation.

At first it didn't look like a party for Milwaukee at all. The Dodgers were already leading 4-0 in the second inning. Shohei Ohtani gave the champions what was supposed to be a dream start with a three-run home run.

But then the Brewers cut it short with two runs in the fourth inning and tied the score at 4-4 in the fifth. The final turning point came in the sixth inning: Garrett Mitchell hit the ball over the fence to make it 5-4. In the ninth inning, David Hamilton made it 6-4.

In Dodger Stadium, of all places, the Brewers made their first entry into the World Series since 1982. Particularly bitter for Los Angeles: last year, the Dodgers had swept Milwaukee out of the competition 4-0 in the MLB semifinals. Now the Brewers get their revenge, also with a sweep.

Dodgers miss title hat trick

Brewers player Christian Yelich said after the triumph: “We were behind early and thought: This is going to be a great story if we come back and win this.” His team stayed together and fought back. "We never had any doubt about what was going to happen tonight. We knew we were going to win this game," said colleague Jake Bauers.

For Los Angeles, however, the dream of a historic title hat-trick ends. The Dodgers had won the last two World Series. The last time the New York Yankees won three straight MLB titles was from 1998 to 2000. “I’m not used to pep talks like that,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "I told our boys there were no excuses, no 'I'm sorry'. We gave everything we had and it wasn't enough. That's just life."

And Milwaukee? The Brewers can now dream of the greatest triumph in their club history. In their only World Series appearance to date, in 1982, they lost in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. They have never won an MLB title.