The fierce matchup of Los Angeles Dodgers starter Tarik Skubal squaring off against Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski kicked off Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

You wouldn't expect both starters to be out by the fifth inning. 

The Dodgers' game plan was similarly traced back to when they faced Atlanta Braves southpaw Chris Sale: work the count and swing early. Los Angeles did that, but the Brewers' small-ball offense secured a 2-1 series-opening victory. 

Misiorowski was just as advertised in his first inning of work, throwing 12 pitches — 11 of them fastballs that were gunned at 100 mph or more — in a scoreless frame. 

Then the command issues arose.

From the second inning on, Misiorowski struggled to find any source of control on not only his slider but signature triple-digit fastball. In his 2026 regular season campaign — a season in which he is the NL Cy Young Award front-runner — he generated a whiff rate of 40.2%. 

On Sunday, he amassed just an 18.5%. 

The Miz had no time to settle down and adjust as manager Pat Murphy pulled the plug on his outing following a one-out walk in the fifth inning to Mookie Betts. Misiorowski walked off the mound after 4.1 innings, giving up just one earned run on five hits and striking out five. 

The lone run off Misiorowski came from Andy Pages' RBI single in the top of the second with runners on first and second. Efficient at-bat quality from the Dodgers slayed the dragon that was Misiorowski, but that would end once he exited the game. 

On the other hand, Skubal was mostly efficient in his outing. He struck out six of the first nine hitters he faced, but the fourth inning rolled around, and Brice Turang greeted him with a solo shot that knotted up the game, 1-1. 

The fifth inning was a full display of what the Brewers' season consisted of all along.

Following a leadoff walk to Garrett Mitchell, Cooper Pratt executed a perfect sacrifice bunt that set up Luis Lara with runners in scoring position. 

Lara delivered, ambushing Skubal's first-pitch changeup, for an RBI single that skipped off the pitcher mound to center field. With a 2-1 lead, Milwaukee never let up. 

With runners in scoring position, Los Angeles hit more or less the same as they did against Atlanta, going 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine runners on base. 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto goes on Monday for a significant Game 2 against fellow right-hander Logan Henderson.