Previewing Game 2 of the NCLS between the Brewers and Dodgers
JR Radcliffe and Dominique Yates talk ahead of the Brewers’ Game 2 NCLS matchup with the Dodgers.
The Milwaukee Brewers face daunting odds in their National League Championship Series, having fallen behind the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-0, and having done so at home, no less.
The Toronto Blue Jays are facing the same circumstance in the American League, down 2-0 with the series shifting to Seattle, beginning Oct. 15.
The odds, as you might imagine, are not in Milwaukee’s favor. But there are examples of it happening.
How many teams have battled back from a 2-0 series deficit in a seven-game series?
It’s only happened 15 times, as documented here by MLB.com. That might sound like a small number, but bear in mind that for years, only the World Series was a seven-game series in the playoffs. The league championship series didn’t even exist until 1969, and it was still a five-game LCS format until 1985. Even today, there are only three chances per year for a seven-game series, in the two championship series and the World Series.
What percentage of teams that go down 2-0 in a seven-game series come back to win?
According to MLB.com, teams taking a 2-0 lead in any best-of-seven postseason series have gone on to take that series 78 of 93 times (83.9%). That leaves 16.1% for teams like Milwaukee.
What was the last team to battle back from a 2-0 deficit?
That happened in 2023, when the Arizona Diamondbacks trailed 2-0 to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS and rallied back to win the series in seven. That was the same Diamondbacks team that eliminated the Brewers in the wild-card round.
One other notable 2-0 deficit overcome came at the expense of the Milwaukee Braves in the 1958 World Series, when Milwaukee went ahead 2-0 and 3-1 on the precipice of repeating as champs, only to lose to the Yankees in seven games.
How many teams have battled back from a 2-0 deficit in which the first two games were lost at home?
You’re not going to want to hear this, but it’s only happened four times.
The most recent time was 2020, when the Los Angeles Dodgers fell behind the Braves in the NLCS, then fell behind 3-1 before rallying for a seven-game series win. That series was played in the context of the COVID-19 season, but Los Angeles did go on to win the World Series.Before that, you have to go back to 1996 when the New York Yankees dropped their first two games at home to the Atlanta Braves and won the next four for a six-game series win.The 1986 Mets rallied from a 2-0 deficit against the Red Sox in a World Series remembered for Bill Buckner’s error in Game 6, as the Mets went on to win in seven.The 1985 Royals went down to the Cardinals 2-0 and 3-1, then rallied to win in seven in a series remembered for an infamous call by umpire Don Denkinger in Game 6.