The Dodgers’ reign atop Major League Baseball officially ended at 8:08 p.m. Thursday night.
asserted
reign → end → p.m.
Kiké Hernández hit a line drive to left.
asserted
Hernández → hit → left
Jackson Chourio caught it on the run.
asserted
Chourio → catch → run
And instead of a World Series three-peat, the Dodgers saw their dynasty end in the most futile fashion.
asserted
dynasty → see → fashion
With a 5-4 loss in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, the two-time defending champions were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers.
asserted
champions → defend → Brewers
Just a fourth-straight loss and an embarrassing elimination that will send the Dodgers into a long, regretful winter full of future uncertainty.
asserted
that → send → uncertainty
This team’s season was not supposed to end like this.
asserted
season → suppose → this
Not after they entered the year coming off back-to-back championships.
asserted
they → enter → championships
Not after they amassed the league’s most talented –– and expensive –– roster with a record-setting $432 million payroll.
asserted
they → amass → payroll
And certainly not after the way Game 4 started, when the Dodgers jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second inning thanks to a cathartic three-run blast from the previously slumping Shohei Ohtani.
asserted
Dodgers → start → Ohtani
At that point, it felt like the tide just might be starting to turn.
uncertain
tide → feel → point
All month, the Dodgers had waited for an injury-hampered Ohtani to look like himself at the plate.
asserted
Ohtani → wait → plate
All week, they had waited for their offense to show any genuine sign of life against a dominant Brewers pitching staff.
asserted
offense → wait → staff
Finally, after returning to his customary leadoff spot of the lineup for the first time this postseason, Ohtani took care of both, belting a 428-foot bomb for his first home run since Aug. 18.
asserted
Ohtani → return → Aug.
As had been the case throughout this one-sided series, however, the Brewers regrouped, then came roaring back.
asserted
Brewers → regroup → series
It started in the top of the fourth, when Tyler Glasnow –– having retired his first 10 batters, six via strikeout –– gave up a walk, then back-to-back ground-rule doubles, the latter coming from NLCS MVP Jake Bauers to score two runs and cut the Dodgers’ lead in half.
asserted
latter → start → half
An inning later, the cushion would be gone, with Milwaukee going full BrewerBall to stun the Dodger Stadium crowd.
asserted
Milwaukee → go → crowd
Though left-hander Alex Vesia was warm, manager Dave Roberts tried to sneak Glasnow through the left-handed-heavy bottom of the Brewers’ order.
asserted
Roberts → try → order
It didn’t work.
asserted
It → work → ?
Sal Frelick walked, stole second, then scored on a David Hamilton single.
asserted
Frelick → walk → single
At that point, Roberts summoned right-hander Evan Phillips, but watched him issue two more free passes to load the bases.
asserted
him → summon → bases
That finally brought Vesia into the game.
asserted
That → bring → game
But he couldn’t find the strike zone.
asserted
he → find → zone
With Bauers at the plate again, the southpaw missed on four-straight pitches to walk in the tying run.
asserted
southpaw → miss → run
Just like that, Milwaukee had snatched the momentum right back, erasing the sixth different Dodgers’ lead of this series.
asserted
Milwaukee → snatch → series
In the top of the sixth, they’d go in front for good on Garrett Mitchell’s solo home run against Tanner Scott.
asserted
they → go → Scott
The Brewers responded to every moment of adversity.
asserted
Brewers → respond → adversity
The Dodgers withered in the face of every setback of their own.
asserted
Dodgers → wither → own
The energy that had pulsed through this franchise over the last two years?
asserted
that → pulse → years
Long gone, as another less-than-capacity crowd –– Thursday’s attendance was just 49,104 –– once again showed.
asserted
attendance → go → capacity
Where the Dodgers go from here is just as much of a mystery.
asserted
go → go → mystery
Their aging roster will be another year older.
asserted
roster → age → ?
Important veteran role players like Miguel Rojas (who is likely to retire) and Kiké Hernández (who will be a free agent) could be gone.
uncertain
who → retire → Rojas
Add in the uncertainty of a looming labor battle, and a new collective-bargaining agreement that could bring profound changes to the sport’s financial structure, and it’s possible an ever larger-scale retooling could be in order.
uncertain
retooling → add → order
That’s why this year’s run was so precious; with the Dodgers not only chasing history, but trying to prolong what felt like a potential last dance with this veteran core.
asserted
what → ’ → core
They won 100 games in the regular season.
asserted
They → win → season
They captured a 13th NL West crown in the last 14 years.
asserted
They → capture → years
But all that really mattered was completing their World Series three-peat.
asserted
that → matter → peat
In the end, they came up frustratingly short.
asserted
they → come → end
The Aporia
