Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers shut out the Brewers 3-0 Thursday night to sweep the best-of-three Wild Card series in Los Angeles.
Kershaw pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out 13 for the Game Two victory.
Milwaukee starter Brandon Woodruff allowed three runs over four-and-two-thirds innings to take the playoff loss.
L-A scored all three runs in the fifth on an R-B-I single by Austin Hedges and a two-run double by Mookie Betts.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell said, “we’re not satisfied just getting to the playoffs. We expect to play on, and that’s going to be a standard I think we’ve helped establish.” Counsell added that he has “so much respect and admiration for his team did this year.”
The Brewers advanced to the postseason for a franchise record third straight year.
Brewers veteran Ryan Braun was not in the lineup Thursday night at Dodger Stadium due to a left oblique strain.
Braun left Game One after two at-bats with what was described as back discomfort. He later revealed it was an oblique strain suffered Sunday on defensive plays in St. Louis.
Braun called the injury “incredibly disappointing, incredibly frustrating.”
36-year-old Braun is in the final guaranteed year of his contract with the Brewers.
