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At a few points over the past six and a half months, this night seemed improbable, if not impossible.
When the Brewers were stumbling into the All-Star break, completely out of gas and unable to take a single game in a 5-game series in Pittsburgh, the idea of making the playoffs — let alone the NLCS — started to feel unlikely.
When they started September 5 games behind the Chicago Cubs, the idea of winning a pennant seemed downright crazy.
But there was always just something about this team. No matter how bad Brewers Twitter or radio talk shows seemed to be melting down, the guys in the clubhouse just went about their business like it was any other day and calmly pulled themselves out of any bit of adversity they faced.
They did it to force a Game 163, and then they stole a division title. They did it again on Friday night, and now they’ll hope to steal a pennant. The Cubs may have felt they were entitled to that NL Central championship, and the Brewers took it. The Dodgers have carried themselves like they’re entitled to a second straight NL pennant — this is supposed to be Their Turn, after barely missing out on a World Series title last season — and the Brewers will try to take that, too.
Craig Counsell said before this game that it’s now a 9-inning season. Buckle up.
Lineups
Tonight's GM. 7 Dodger lineup at Brewers:
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 20, 2018
Pederson LF
Muncy 1B
Turner 3B
Machado SS
Bellinger CF
Puig RF
Taylor 2B
Barnes C
Buehler P#LADetermined | #NLCS pic.twitter.com/sCmkXcNbL1
#Brewers lineup. Game 7. #LetsGOOOOOOOOOO! #OurCrewOurOctober pic.twitter.com/y7mCM5qmHL
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 20, 2018