Dodgers outlast Brewers to go level

CODY Bellinger singled in the winning run with two outs in the 13th inning on Tuesday as the Los Angeles Dodgers levelled baseball’s National League Championship Series with a 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

In a game that had been tied at 1-1 since the fifth inning, Bellinger lined a 3-2 slider from Milwaukee relief pitcher Junior Guerra into right field, allowing shortstop Manny Machado to score from second base.

“Honestly, I was surprised that they were throwing me,” Bellinger said. “I thought they would pitch around me and get me to swing. Once I saw they were attacking me, it was just kind of grind mode and do what you can to put the ball in play and try to end this game.”

Machado, who had singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch, barely beat Brewers’ right fielder Christian Yelich’s throw to home.

‘Head down’

“As soon as that ball was hit I just put my head down – trying to pick up the ball at the end and try to sneak in there,” said Machado, who didn’t see his teammates already heading onto the field to celebrate after he rounded third.

The Dodgers, seeking to return to the World Series after falling in seven games to the Houston Astros last year, knotted the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.

They were to host Game 5 on Wednesday, with ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw taking the mound.

The winner of the series will take on either the reigning World Series champion Astros or the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball’s championship showcase.

The Red Sox took a 2-1 lead in the American League Championship Series on Tuesday with an 8-2 triumph in Houston sealed by Jackie Bradley Jr’s eighth-inning grand slam.

The Dodgers, facing the prospect of falling into a 1-3 hole with a defeat, got off to a promising start with a run in the first inning, when Brian Dozier’s single scored Chris Taylor.

The Brewers, whose only prior World Series appearance was a loss to St Louis in 1982, knotted the score in the fifth inning when pinch-hitter Domingo Santana lined a double to right field and Orlando Arcia raced around from first to make it 1-1.

Bradley was the star in Houston as the Red Sox put the game out of reach with five runs in the top of the eighth – four of them on Bradley’s grand slam to right field off a pitch from reliever Roberto Osuna.