NLCS Game 3 in L.A. Tonight: Brewers Lead 2-0 as Snell Tries to Stop the Bleed, While the ALCS Resets at 1-1

By Hank Dalton, RF Sports Radio MLB Playoffs voice

Baseball fans, small-market October just got louder. Milwaukee still owns the NLCS. Tampa Bay just punched Cleveland square in the mouth. And tonight the Dodgers have to answer in their own building.

The facts

The Milwaukee Brewers lead the Los Angeles Dodgers two games to none in the National League Championship Series. Game 3 is Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern / 7 p.m. Central at Dodger Stadium on FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One, per MLB.com's postseason schedule. Left-hander Robert Gasser is lined up for Milwaukee; left-hander Blake Snell is the expected starter for Los Angeles. MLB.com's Game 3 notes also carried the travel-day conversation about Shohei Ohtani's postseason struggles and whether Los Angeles would consider a lineup tweak; coverage heading into Wednesday still projected Ohtani in the order.

In the American League Championship Series, the Tampa Bay Rays evened the series at one game apiece with a 3-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday in St. Petersburg, per AP. Freddy Peralta and Liam Hicks were central to that result in the wire report. ALCS Game 3 is Thursday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m. Eastern / 5 p.m. Central on TBS, truTV, UniMas and HBO Max in Cleveland. The World Series is scheduled to begin Friday, Oct. 23.

None of this is a Texas Rangers story on the field. Dallas is watching October like every other club that is home for the fall. The story for a DFW audience is whether Milwaukee can finish what a 2-0 lead started on the road, and whether Tampa Bay's even series becomes the next payroll-defying run.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: Game 3 is the Dodgers' season until proven otherwise. You do not trail a Brewers club that just bullpen-smothered you for two games and then treat Snell-Gasser like a normal midweek start. Los Angeles has the stars and the October resume. Milwaukee has the lead and the cleaner late-inning tape. In the AL, give Tampa Bay credit — even series on the road trip into Cleveland changes the math for both bullpens.

My call: Dodgers take Game 3 tonight and avoid the 3-0 cliff; Brewers still win the NLCS in six. Rays take at least one more game in Cleveland and push the ALCS to six or seven. That is a prediction, not a report. If Gasser matches Snell for five, Milwaukee can close this faster than Hollywood wants to admit.

What to watch next

NLCS Game 3 is tonight at 7 p.m. Central on FS1 in Los Angeles. ALCS Game 3 is Thursday at 5 p.m. Central on TBS in Cleveland. World Series opens Oct. 23. For Hank's Tuesday LCS column, read Hank's Tuesday column on Brewers and Guardians leading the LCS, and follow the MLB Playoffs page through the championship rounds.

Radio question: are you buying the Brewers in L.A. tonight, or do you think Snell and the Dodgers stars finally flip this series?

Sources: MLB.com — 2026 MLB playoff and World Series schedule; MLB.com — Brewers-Dodgers NLCS Game 3 FAQ; AP — Rays beat Guardians 3-1, even ALCS at 1-1.