Small ball has been the name of the game in the NBA in recent years. Ball dominant guards have taken over the league, and a crafty backcourt has the ability to take control of any game.

Having guards that can not only score but take care of the ball is more important than ever. Almost every team to have won a championship recently has had that exact type of backcourt.

NOTE: Players expected to miss most of, or the entirety of the 2025-26 NBA season were not included.

Top 10 guards for the 2025-26 NBA season

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Our experts said: It’s a rarity that the league’s leading scorer and reigning MVP is not at the top of this list, but Gilgeous-Alexander more than earned his worth after leading the Thunder to their first NBA championship; and he was rewarded with a four-year, $285 million supermax extension. He seemingly glides across the floor, is never hurried and is one of the most consistent scorers in the NBA.

2. Luka Doncic, Los Angeles Lakers

Our experts said: In a move that shocked the NBA, Dončić was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers in February. Dončić and the Lakers reached the first round of the playoffs but will be in search of accomplishing more this year. He has spent time during the offseason getting in shape and playing EuroLeague as part of his preparation for the upcoming season. Though he tends to be a ball-dominant player, Dončić is methodical in getting to his spots and scoring from all over the floor. But he’s also an artist in the passing game, so his teammates need to be ready at all times for shot opportunities.

3. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves

Our experts said: If the word “dawg” were to ever be truly accepted into the English vernacular, its definition would come alongside a picture of Edwards. The former No. 1 overall pick has finished seventh in MVP voting for the past two years, and he had a case for a higher placement after he increased his 3-point efficiency to a stellar 39.5% clip last season. He has been named an All-Star in three consecutive seasons and a member of the All-NBA second team two years in a row.

4. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

Our experts said: The greatest shooter of all-time, Curry is a relentless hard-worker who is just as effective off the ball – sprinting all over the floor to work off screens and create separation – as he is with the rock in his hands. There’s no shot he cannot make, but there are signs that Curry, 37, is slowing down. Removing the COVID-altered 2019-20 season, when he played only five games because of a broken left hand, Curry notched his fewest minutes per game (32.2) since 2011-12.

5. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers

Our experts said: Mitchell is exactly what the Cavaliers had hoped for when they acquired him ahead of the 2022-23 season. He has been an All-Star in six consecutive seasons and just led the Cavs to the best record in the Eastern Conference. He is an elite scorer with underrated MVP upside. When paired with the young defensive studs the Cavaliers have, it makes Mitchell’s job that much easier.

6. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

Our experts said: Equipped with a range of crafty moves to work his way into the paint and blessed with a reliable left-handed shot, Brunson has been the engine in New York’s revival as a contender in the East. Brunson, winner of the 2024-25 Clutch Player of the Year award, has thrived with the ball in his hands. But with new coach Mike Brown on the sideline, the Knicks may opt to diversify the offense a bit more, using Brunson in off-ball actions.

7. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons

Our experts said: Cunningham, who posted career-bests in points and assists, has blossomed into one of the league’s top playmakers, scoring at will and passing to teammates who can finally make baskets. This is evident from the team’s 30-win improvement from 2023-24 (which included a record 28-game losing streak) and a playoff appearance that ended a five-year drought.

8. Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns

Our experts said: One of the best pure scorers in the NBA, Booker has the potential to absolutely take over any game. You might blink, and then, all of a sudden, he’ll have 50. In fact, he’s the only player younger than 30 with eight or more 50-point games. Though Booker was not an All-Star last season, his scoring prowess makes him an easy fit on almost any team in the NBA. He has tallied at least 25 points per game in seven consecutive seasons. This season in Phoenix, with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal gone, the show is his to run.

9. James Harden, Los Angeles Clippers

Our experts said: It was a resurgent 2024-25 season for Harden, who earned all-NBA honors for the first time since 2020 when he was still with the Houston Rockets. Though Harden’s shooting numbers dipped while playing mostly point guard for the Clippers, his scoring average was the highest it had been in five years. His free throw, rebound and assist rate also improved, and he appeared in more games (78) than he had in almost a decade.

10. Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies

Our experts said: Injuries have taken their toll on Ja Morant over the last two years, but fans haven’t forgotten just how impactful he can be when he’s on the court. Never much of a three-point shooter, Morant is someone who can slash and dominate inside, which is tough to do for someone his size (6-foot-2). He’s a strong, athletic player who can take over games. In his last fully-healthy season (2022-23), Morant finished 12th in MVP voting and averaged more than 26.2 points per game.

The UFC Fall title fights continue as heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall returns to the octagon after a 15-month hiatus for an undisputed title defense matchup against Ciryl Gane in the main event at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi.

Aspinall (15-3-0) is currently on a three-fight win streak and last fought in July 2024. He quickly defeated Curtis Blaydes in a rematch that lasted only one round, winning by knockout. This victory comes as a rebound from a TKO loss to Blaydes in July 2022.

Ciryl Gane (13-2-0) is a former interim champion who won the title against Derrick Lewis in 2021. He was unable to retain the title after losing to Francis Ngannou by unanimous decision in 2022. Currently, Gane is on a two-fight win streak, having defeated Alexander Volkov by split decision in December 2024.

Here is how to watch UFC 321 and the early predictions leading up to the title fight in Abu Dhabi:

Tom Aspinall vs Ciryl Gane predictions

MMA Junkie: Alexander Volkov makes prediction that can go either way

Farah Hannoun writes on behalf of Alexander Volkov predictions: ‘It depends how the fight starts, how both of them will be prepared for this fight. I saw that Gane will be motivated a lot for this fight to get the belt. It’s 50-50, but on paper, when I fought both of them, Tom Aspinall looks better. But in the fight, it could go any way.’

ESPN: Tom Aspinall

Brett Okamoto and Ian Parker write: ‘Aspinall will defend his heavyweight belt after a 15-month layoff and will do so against the No. 1 contender in Gane. On the feet, this is a 50-50 fight with Gane being the more technical kickboxer while Aspinall is the more explosive athlete with knockout power. The difference will be Aspinall’s grappling and jiu-jitsu. Gane was submitted by Jon Jones in Round 1 in March 2023, so it wouldn’t shock me if Aspinall takes that same path. Go with Aspinall to win inside the distance, and if you are feeling greedy, take him to win by submission.’

How to watch UFC 321: Tom Aspinall vs Ciryl Gane

UFC 321 will feature Tom Aspinall taking on Ciryl Gane in the main event on Pay-Per-View. The prelims will be available to stream on ESPN+, Disney+ and FX.

Date: Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025
Time: Prelims start at 10 a.m. ET and main card at 2 p.m. ET
Stream: Prelims on ESPN+/Disney+/FX and main card starts on PPV
Location: Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

UFC 321: Tom Aspinall vs Ciryl Gane card

Card information and odds according to ESPN:

Champ Tom Aspinall (-400) vs. Ciryl Gane (+300): Heavyweight title
Virna Jandiroba (EVEN) vs. Mackenzie Dern (-120): Women’s strawweight title
Umar Nurmagomedov (-500) vs. Mario Bautista (+350): Bantamweight
Alexander Volkov (+140) vs. Jailton Almeida (-170): Heavyweight
Aleksandar Rakic (-105) vs. Azamat Murzakanov (-115): Light Heavyweight
Ikram Aliskerov (-275) vs. JunYong Park (+225): Middleweight
Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady (-110) vs. Matheus Camilo (-110): Lightweight
Hamdy Abdelwahab (-380) vs. Chris Barnett (+290): Heavyweight
Azat Maksum (-350) vs. Mitch Raposo (+270): Flyweight
Jaqueline Amorim (-500) vs. Mizuki Inoue (+350): Women’s Strawweight
Nathaniel Wood (+125) vs. Jose Miguel Delgado (-150): Featherweight
Ludovit Klein (-135) vs. Mateusz Rebecki (+115): Lightweight

MILWAUKEE — Forget Hollywood.

There’s no need for a movie script.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are doing their own real life version of ‘Back to the Future.’

Remember the golden age of baseball when starters pitched deep into games or even went nine innings?

Well, the Dodgers are bringing old-school back into vogue, with a starting rotation that hasn’t dominated the postseason like this since the 2005 Chicago White Sox.

The Dodgers, after silencing the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-1, in front of a subdued crowd at American Family Field, are putting on one of the most dominant pitching clinics in baseball history.

The Dodgers’ starting rotation, after Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s three-hit complete game, has given up just four hits and one run over 17 innings in their two victories against the Brewers in this National League Championship Series.

It’s not only impressive, but historic.

It’s the first time a starting rotation has permitted four or fewer hits over at least 17 innings in the first two games of a postseason in baseball history, eclipsing the Chicago Cubs’ previous record of five hits allowed in Games 1 and 2 of the 1906 World Series against the White Sox, according to STATS Perform.

“It’s just unbelievable,’’ Dodgers veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said. “Really, it’s crazy.’

The Dodgers’ rotation is yielding a 1.54 ERA this postseason, the second-lowest ERA after eight postseason games in MLB history, trailing only the 1983 Baltimore Orioles. The opposition is hitting just .133, with 63 strikeouts in 52 ⅔ innings.

Their dominance is so ridiculous that Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernandez, who hit his fourth postseason homer, has not had a single ball hit to him in two nights.

Really.

“I’m OK if it stays like that,’ Hernandez said. “I don’t need any fly balls.’

Hey, with the way the Dodgers are dominating, why not pull a Satchel Paige and tell his outfielders to come into the dugout and relax?

“I feel like it’s been an honor to be part of something like this,’ Rojas said. “I’ve never seen anything like this where a rotation has just dominated the last 2 ½ months like this. I’m pretty sure that’s what the organization envisioned when they got those guys. …

“People who have been watching us know how spoiled we are because we don’t need to do much on offense. All we have to do is catch the ball, make plays for them and put a couple of runs on the board. I think we’re capable of doing that.’

There’s no stopping them, not pitching like this.

Dodgers run it back in Game 2

Just 24 hours after Blake Snell became the first pitcher since Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956 to face the minimum number of batters through eight innings in a postseason game, Yamamoto gave up a home run on his first pitch of the game, and just two hits in his next 110 pitches, striking out seven with one walk. He was so dominant that he permitted just two fly ball outs the entire game, with 15 grounders.

“It’s been incredible,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said. “That’s probably the two best back-to-back games pitched ever that I’ve seen.”

Brewers manager Pat Murphy wasn’t about to argue: “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.’’

While Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Snell after eight innings in Game 1, this time he wasn’t even tempted to pull Yamamoto, who threw the first complete game in the postseason since Justin Verlander for the Houston Astros in the 2017 ALCS.

It was the first complete game by a Dodger pitcher in the postseason since Jose Lima in 2004, and Snell and Yamamoto are the first pair of Dodger teammates to pitch at least eight innings in consecutive games since Orel Hershiser and Tim Belcher in the first two games of the 1988 World Series.

“He’s phenomenal,’ Brewers DH Christian Yelich said, with the Brewers going 0-for-11 with three strikeouts against his splitter.

“I think this was the best I’ve ever seen him,’ Rojas said. “I know he came within one out of that no-hitter against Baltimore. He was even better tonight.’

Yamamoto, who retired the last 11 batters he faced, became only the fourth pitcher to throw his first career complete game in the postseason, and the first Japanese-born pitcher to accomplish the feat.

“As a player, I’m really glad [Roberts] and the people trust me out there,’ Yamamoto said. “I thought that was great.’

Really, it was a reward, Roberts said, knowing how much a complete game would mean to Yamamoto, who wound up throwing 111 pitches, 81 for strikes. He won’t be needed again until Game 6 and considering the Dodgers have won 12 of their last 14 postseason games since last year, probably not until the World Series.

“I see a real confidence,’’ Roberts said. “I think last year there was a transition and even in the postseason I didn’t give him a whole lot of leash. And we also had a really talented bullpen.

“But I think this year, he’s got true confidence from me that the third time through [the lineup], at pitch 90, he feels that he’s the best option.’

Well, it gives the entire Dodger organization and their world-wide following the same confidence too that they are moving closer to becoming the first National League team in 50 years to win back-to-back World Series championships.

‘We haven’t accomplished anything yet’

This is a rotation, including Tyler Glasnow who will pitch Game 3 and Shohei Ohtani in Game 4, that has produced seven starts of at least six innings and permitted five or fewer hits. They haven’t accomplished that feat in a single postseason since 1981 behind Fernando Valenzuela, Tommy John, Jerry Reuss and Burt Hooton.

They have yielded a 2.73 ERA since Aug. 1, easily the best in baseball, with an MLB-leading 340 strikeouts and .195 opposing batting average. In September, the starters a .173 batting average against, the lowest in a single month in MLB history.

“It’s not a shock to us, they’ve all been doing that since they’ve been back,’ Dodgers three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw said. “They’re unbelievable.  Good pitching beats good hitting any day of the week, and you’re seeing that right now.’

They are terrorizing everyone in their path, first the Cincinnati Reds in the wild card round, then the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS, and now the Brewers.

“It’s just incredible,’ said Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy, who hit his 14th career postseason homer in the sixth inning, the most in franchise history. “We said before this postseason started, our starting pitching was going to be what carried us. And so far it’s been exactly that. If you’re trying to build the recipe to win games, that would be where you would start.’

The Dodgers know that their business isn’t finished, but with the way they’re going, it’s hard to envision a scenario they won’t be the last team standing.

“We’re good, we’re really good,’ Dodgers infielder/outfielder Enrique Hernandez said. “Our goal is to win a World Series, not to win two games on the road in Milwaukee. We haven’t accomplished anything yet.’

Just wait.

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Six weeks into the season, one NFL coach is already gone. History suggests more will follow – likely soon.
Could one coach with a Lombardi Trophy on his résumé be at risk?
Two others are trying to placate owners who were already getting antsy after rough 2024 seasons.

The Tennessee Titans’ termination of head coach Brian Callahan on Monday marked the first firing of the 2025 NFL season.

But the league’s HC grim reaper will be back.

There are seven new head men on the sidelines in 2025, which pretty much typifies the NFL’s annual turnover. But in recent years, the vacancies have been developing far earlier than the, well, traditional Black Monday bloodlettings of yore. Three jobs opened in the middle of last season, a signal that more of Callahan’s peers could be following him sooner than later in an ever-evolving profession.

And in a league of supposed parity, this year is already taking a unique shape that could lend itself to more job openings – and soon.

Nearly half of the teams (14) are presently two games over .500. Three others have winning records, and another trio beyond that is currently 3-3 – the Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers, all seemingly headed in a decidedly positive direction.

The obverse of that? The bottom feeders are drowning. And fast.

Six clubs are already 1-5 or worse. One of them, the New Orleans Saints, is led by rookie coach Kellen Moore. Despite a resetting roster and no apparent long-term solution at quarterback, his scrappy team has been in nearly every game.

Another, the Cleveland Browns, is in a similar situation under two-time NFL Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski. Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who extended the contracts of Stefanski and GM Andrew Berry last year − not that new deals make anyone bulletproof in this league − appeared to be taking a long view of his franchise well before the season, even falling on the Deshaun Watson sword himself. That seemingly explains why the team’s brain trust was comfortable not only trading the No. 2 pick of the 2025 draft but also quarterback Joe Flacco (he started Cleveland’s first four games) last week. Sure seems like Berry and Stefanski will get to use those two first-round picks next spring.

Big picture, the circumstances – ever changing as they are – sifting out which coaches appear to be in growing jeopardy. Listed alphabetically, here are five on what seem to be incrementally warmer seats who, currently, seem at most risk of following Callahan into the unemployment line sooner or (likely not much) later, barring a reversal of fortune:

Brian Daboll, New York Giants

From the league’s toughest schedule to uncertainty behind center to an increasingly impatient owner (though John Mara values stability) – all of this heaped onto a 9-25 record the previous two seasons in the nation’s biggest and most unforgiving media market – the deck certainly seemed stacked against Daboll and GM Joe Schoen entering 2025. The next nine opponents for the 2-4 G-Men are currently .500 or better, so this remains a hazardous situation. And yet the temperature does seem to be cooling − is that good on slippery slopes? − around Daboll now that rookie QB Jaxson Dart has electrified the team while winning two of his three starts since replacing fading veteran Russell Wilson. With WR Malik Nabers (knee) due back next season as a major component of a promising young roster, the Giants seem positioned to return to relevance … whether or not Daboll and Schoen remain.

Jonathan Gannon, Arizona Cardinals

They won eight times last season, double what they’d managed during Gannon’s debut in 2023. But a team that appeared headed in the right direction and won its first two games is suddenly spiraling. The Cards have lost four straight, albeit by a total of nine points, but are quickly losing touch with the pack in the hyper-competitive NFC West. Gannon is fielding questions about the long-term future of QB Kyler Murray, who missed Sunday’s loss in Indianapolis – though the offense seemed to function better with backup Jacoby Brissett. A week earlier, the Cards suffered an epic meltdown at home to become the only team Callahan’s Titans defeated this season. Worst of all, Gannon precipitated an embarrassing and troubling situation on the sideline when he angrily confronted RB Emari Demercado – his careless fumble at the goal line on what should have been a breakaway 72-yard touchdown probably cost Arizona the game – appearing to make physical contact with a player who was already distraught over his gaffe. The Cardinals fined Gannon $100,000, though it’s worth wondering if the incident will partially initiate another job action soon enough.

Aaron Glenn, New York Jets

In fairness, he’s a rookie head coach six games into his tenure. In reality, the NFL isn’t a fair fight, job security hardly guaranteed to the game’s greatest coaches much less one at the controls of what’s now the only winless squad in 2025. And while half of Glenn’s setbacks have been by two points (another was by six), the heavily penalized Jets often look disjointed and undisciplined. He could be heard ripping into his players following a Week 4 loss at Miami, where the Jets became the only team to lose to the Dolphins this season. It’s quite obviously early. But Glenn, formerly an acolyte of other tough-talking coaches like Bill Parcells and Dan Campbell, needs to at least start making headway for an organization that traffics in chaos and is currently mired in the league’s longest playoff drought, one that dates to the 2010 season. And Sunday’s product in London, when the Jets managed 82 yards of offense and didn’t sniff the end zone, isn’t the kind that owner Woody Johnson is historically inclined to suffer for long.

John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens

Hired in 2008, he’s the league’s longest-tenured coach aside from Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin. But the Ravens have hardly been the team so many (raises hand) forecast as a Super Bowl 60 participant. A rash of injuries to the team’s best players, namely perennial MVP candidate Lamar Jackson, is quite obviously stunting a 1-5 outfit, and Harbaugh seems confident his quarterback could return following a Week 7 bye. But the problems here don’t seem limited to the injury report. The Ravens’ toughest opponent consistently remains the Ravens, who historically tend to undermine themselves in the playoffs, often struggle to maintain significant fourth-quarter leads and fumbled away games they should have (Buffalo) or could have (Detroit) won before Jackson was injured. And long as the list of walking wounded is, it’s hard to justify how simply non-competitive Baltimore has been since Jackson went down in Kansas City on Sept. 28 – unable to even approach the opportunity to self-destruct. Harbaugh has come through adverse circumstances before. He’s also 4-7 in postseason since winning Super Bowl 47 nearly 13 years ago. A reckoning amid mounting unmet expectations seems inevitable at some point, whether it’s this year or not.

Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins

He endured another round of slings and arrows Sunday, when the Fins couldn’t hold a lead against the decimated LA Chargers in the game’s final minute, the latest loss dropping Miami to 1-5. Worse, QB Tua Tagovailoa put the locker room on blast – and, by extension, McDaniel – following the defeat. During three-plus seasons near South Beach, McDaniel’s wizardry as an offensive architect and play caller has routinely been on display. So has a team that too often lacks accountability while struggling to beat good teams, especially away from Florida’s warm embrace. And with explosive WR Tyreek Hill out for the season, the Dolphins appear further than ever from winning their first playoff game in nearly 25 years, currently the longest dry spell between postseason victories in the league. McDaniel and GM Chris Grier don’t seem to be leaving owner Stephen Ross much choice after he essentially put them on notice following a disappointing 8-9 finish to the 2024 campaign, when Hill infamously quit on the team during the regular-season finale. A loss to the Browns on Sunday would seemingly make it even harder for McDaniel to even survive into a bye that’s still six weeks away.

MILWAUKEE — Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts has refused to stay at the team hotel in downtown Milwaukee for years, convinced that the famous Pfister Hotel is haunted.

So when the Dodgers come to town, he always checks into an Airbnb away from the team, not ready to encounter any ghosts.

Well, if there’s any extra room, Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez would like to join him.

Hernandez insisted before Game 2 of that National League Championship Series that while he does not believe in ghosts, his wife sure does – so they’re getting different accommodations.

“I don’t believe in ghosts,’ Hernandez said. “I have stayed in there before. I’ve never seen anything or heard anything.

“But my wife is on this trip, and she said she doesn’t want to stay there. So we have to find another hotel.

“But I’ve been hearing from other players and other wives that it’s something happening in these couple of nights.’

Well, just what are they hearing?

“The lights, some of the rooms, the lights goes off and on,’ Hernandez said. “And the doors, there are noises, footsteps, things like that, I don’t know.

“I’m not the guy that I’m going to be here saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I experienced that before’ because I’m not. And I don’t think I’m going to experience that.’

Well, you can’t convince Betts that something isn’t up, and refuses to take any chances, saying “I just don’t want to find out myself.’

Players in the past have talked about some strange occurrences at the 132-year-old hotel with Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper saying his clothes were once moved across the room, and players talking about phantom footsteps and the TV and radios mysteriously coming on in their rooms.

Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton once said: “It’s freaky with the head-shot paintings on the walls and the old curtains everywhere. It reminds me of the Disneyland Haunted House. The less time I’m there, the better.’

The truth, one former MLB executive says, is that it’s often just gags being played by teammates.

The doors to the rooms on the older side of the hotel don’t go all of the way to the floor, leaving about a quarter-inch gap from the bottom.

“So guys will take their TV remotes and go around to other player and staff rooms in the middle of the night clicking TV’s under their doors,’ he said. “I’ve seen it done a ton over the years. That’s where the whole haunted thing started back in the day.’

So the hotel is not haunted?

“Not haunted,’ he said.

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MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers knew their pitching was going to be a weak spot in the NLCS.

What they didn’t foresee was their offense being a complete dumpster fire.

The Brewers have managed a whopping two runs and five hits in the first two games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They never had a runner in scoring position in Game 2 on Tuesday night. They went down in order in each of the last four innings, with just one ball making it out of the infield.  

Christian Yelich is 0-for-7 against Los Angeles, extending a slump that began in the NLDS against the Chicago Cubs. Jackson Chourio, William Contreras and Brice Turang aren’t much better, with Milwaukee’s big four a combined 2-for-29 in the NLCS.

“Not the best,” Yelich said after a 5-1 loss that dropped the Brewers to 0-2 in the best-of-seven series. “I started (the postseason) out good and then just hit a little bit of a rough patch here the last few games.

“Unfortunate time for that to happen,” said Yelich, who had 29 home runs and 103 RBIs during the regular season. “I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to figure it out. That’s just how it goes.”

It’s true that any team would have struggled to scratch out hits, let alone runs, off Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto with the way they were pitching. The Dodgers starters were masterful, with Snell throwing eight innings of one-hit ball Monday and Yamamoto tossing the first complete game in the postseason in eight years Tuesday.

But the Brewers had the season they did because they thrived on pressuring opposing pitchers. No matter what was thrown at them, they found ways to get on base and manufacture runs.

Remember that sweep of Los Angeles in the regular season? The Brewers tagged the Dodgers for 31 runs in those six games. They ran Yamamoto off before he could get through an inning in his one regular-season start against them.

Now they can’t buy a base hit.

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

“Offensively, you’ve got to grind out at-bats. That’s been our forte. … Sometimes great pitching brings out the worst in you.”

It didn’t start out that way.

When Chourio went deep on the first pitch he saw from Yamamoto, it looked as if the Brewers were going to build off their momentum from the ninth inning in Game 1. It was only the third leadoff home run in Brewers postseason history, and it had the sellout crowd at American Family Field rocking.

But Milwaukee quickly faded, with Turang, Contreras and Yelich grounding out to end the inning that began on such a high.

“It’s a great feeling to have, for sure, to be able to put your team ahead right away from the first pitch of the game,” Chourio said. “But unfortunately we were unable to add onto that and to keep going.”

Milwaukee would only put five people on base the rest of the game, and no one after the first out in the fifth inning.  

“The way this offense runs is just getting on base,” Chourio said. “They did a good job of limiting our ability to do that.”

Now the Brewers head to Los Angeles, with only one day to figure out what ails them before Game 3 on Thursday night.

As dire as their circumstances seem, Milwaukee is capable of both digging itself out of a hole and reeling off a winning streak.

The Brewers began the season with a four-game losing streak — giving up 47 runs in the process, no less — only to win four in a row and seven of its next eight. They had an 11-game winning streak in July and a 14-game winning streak in August. They have not lost four in a row since the end of April.  

“This team has been counted out a lot this year. And I think there’s some fight left in them,” Murphy said.

There might be fight, but it’s offense the Brewers need.

“We’re just looking for that one where it kind of clicks,” Yelich said. “Get a few guys going and make a series of it.”

Time is running out.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.