Slumping Brewers must improve their approach at the plate to have any hope of coming back in NLCS

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers are making the types of mistakes at the plate that they avoided while producing the best regular-season record in the major leagues.

No wonder they’re leaving home facing a 2-0 deficit against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series.

“We’ve just got to play better,” Brewers designated hitter Christian Yelich said. “It’s not an ideal start to the series, by any means. Just have to continue to battle and find a way to get the offense going. I’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be better. It’s just facts.”

The Brewers ranked second in the majors in on-base percentage (.332) and third in runs (806) and batting average (.258) while posting a franchise-best 97-65 regular-season record.

But they’ve totaled just five hits through the first two games of this series and mustered only one run in each of them.

The Brewers got just two hits in a 2-1 Game 1 loss, as two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell allowed one hit and no walks over eight shutout innings fo Los Angeles. They managed three hits Tuesday and fell 5-1 as Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched the first postseason complete game in eight years.

During the regular season, the Brewers had the best chase rate in the majors, meaning they swung at the lowest percentage of pitches outside the strike zone. But their inability to work counts the last two night allowed Los Angeles’ starters to go deep into the games and prevented the Brewers from getting many shots at the Dodgers’ vulnerable bullpen.

“Both those pitchers were as dominant as two pitchers have been,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said. “We chased way more than we’ve chased all year. We’ve been the best in baseball at not chasing. These pitchers brought out the worst in us.”

The most notable example came when Blake Treinen struck out Brice Turang swinging at a neck-high fastball with the bases loaded to end Game 1.

But the chasing was prevalent again Tuesday, allowing Yamamoto to pitch a complete game for the first time since entering the majors last season on a 12-year, $325 million contract.

Jackson Chourio homered on Yamamoto’s first pitch to continue his impressive postseason. The 21-year-old already has four career postseason homers to tie a Brewers record he now shares with Orlando Arcia and Prince Fielder.

But the Brewers accomplished little else. Their only other hits were two-out singles by Brice Turang in the third inning and Sal Frelick in the fourth.

The lack of punch was particularly frustrating because the Brewers had knocked Yamamoto out in the first inning of a 9-1 victory over the Dodgers the one time they faced him in the regular season. Yamamoto gave up five runs — three earned — and got only two outs in that July 7 game.

This time, the Brewers had no answers for him.

“He wasn’t missing over the middle of the plate,” Turang said. “We hit some balls hard but they were standing right there. Sometimes it’s part of the game. He hit his spots.”

Milwaukee’s struggles are up and down the lineup thus far in the series.

Yelich, a three-time All-Star and the 2018 NL MVP, is 0 for 13 in his last four games. Two-time All-Star William Contreras and Andrew Vaughn each homered twice in the NL Division Series against the Chicago Cubs, but both are hitless so far in this series.

“We’ve got to take batter at-bats,” Chourio said through an interpreter. “That’s where it begins. But you have to credit those guys. But we haven’t had so much luck go our way. We have to stick with our plan and stick with process and hopefully change things around.”

The Brewers remain confident they can turn this series around. They won all six regular-season matchups with the Dodgers, all in July. The Dodgers are playing much better now than they were then, but the Brewers realize they can show much more discipline at the plate than they’ve displayed the last two nights.

“You guys might have us counted out,” Murphy said. “And I understand that — 90% of the teams that have been in this situation don’t win the series. But this team has been counted out a lot this year. And I think there’s some fight left in them.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Abner Uribe leaves the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the seventh inning in Game 2 of baseball's National League Championship Series, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy talks to his players durung a pitching change in the eighth inning of Game 2 of baseball's National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta walks to the dugout after the top of the fifth inning in Game 2 of baseball's National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Members of the Milwaukee Brewers watch during the ninth inning in Game 2 of baseball's National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Milwaukee Brewers fans react during the sixth inning in Game 2 of baseball's National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

PARIS (AP) — Workers at the Louvre Museum voted Monday to strike over working conditions and other complaints, dealing another blow to the Paris landmark and home of the Mona Lisa after an embarrassing jewelry heist in October.

The CFDT union said the vote was taken at a meeting of 400 workers on Monday morning and that they decided to strike for the day.

The world’s most-visited museum didn’t open as scheduled and turned people away. A notice on the Louvre's website said “the museum is closed for the moment.”

“It's really sad, because I was really looking forward to this,” said Lindsey Hall, a bitterly disappointed would-be visitor from Sacramento, California. She had been planning to enjoy the museum's huge collection of art and artifacts with a friend, describing it as “one of those life experiences you crave.”

“This is just an epic collection of art and something that every human should see," she said. “I can see the other side of it, like if you are the person that works in the museum and how that can be, like day after day after day."

The strike vote followed talks last week between labor unions and government officials including Culture Minister Rachida Dati. Labor leaders said the talks had not alleviated all of their concerns about staffing and financing for the museum that welcomes millions of visitors each year.

“Visiting the museum has become an obstacle course,” said Alexis Fritche, general secretary of the culture wing of the CFDT union.

For employees, the daylight jewel heist crystallized long-standing concerns that crowding and thin staffing are undermining security and working conditions at the Louvre.

Thieves used a basket lift to reach the Louvre’s facade, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with pieces of the French crown jewels. A Senate inquiry released last week said the thieves escaped with barely 30 seconds to spare and pointed fingers of blame at broken cameras, outdated equipment, understaffed control rooms and poor coordination that initially sent police to the wrong location.

In a statement, the CFDT said employees wants more staffing for security and to welcome visitors, improved working conditions, stable long-term budgets for the Louvre and leadership that “truly listens to staff.”

Yvan Navarro of the CGT union complained that staff numbers have continually decreased while visitor numbers have increased.

“People come to Paris to visit the museums. So the visitor numbers go up, the tariffs and the prices go up, because everything is becoming more expensive but the salaries and the numbers of staffers don't go up so obviously you reach a point like today, a day of anger.” he said.

Workers display a banner reading "Louvre on strike" outside the Louvre museum after they voted to strike for the day over working conditions and other complaints, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Workers display banners at an entrance of the Louvre museum after they voted to strike for the day over working conditions and other complaints, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Workers display banners outside the Louvre museum after they voted to strike for the day over working conditions and other complaints, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

People stand by the pyramid of the Louvre museum as workers at the Louvre will vote to go on strike or continue talks with the government after months of mounting pressure on the world's most visited museum, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Visitors leave the Louvre museum shortly before workers at the Louvre voted to strike for the day over working conditions and other complaints, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Workers display an union flag outside the Louvre museum after they voted to strike for the day over working conditions and other complaints, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A board advises opening delays outside the pyramid of the Louvre museum as workers at the Louvre will vote to go on strike or continue talks with the government after months of mounting pressure on the world's most visited museum, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

FILE - A carpet at Le Louvre museum, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

FILE- People walk by an entrance of the Louvre museum, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva, file)