The Milwaukee Brewers drew first blood in their four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Milwaukee Brewers threw the first punch in their four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 5-4 win on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
With the win, Milwaukee gets back on track after being swept by the San Diego Padres, and it shows that the Dodgers won’t be the bully.
Striking first, falling behind
After both clubs went scoreless through the first three innings, the Brewers’ offense finally broke through in the fourth when Gary Sanchez hit a leadoff single. Then, Andrew Vaughn drew a one-out walk, and Christian Yelich singled to load the bases.
After William Contreras struck out, Milwaukee had one more chance to capitalize on an opportunity with runners occupying the base paths. Small ball remained a friend of the Brewers as Joey Ortiz put together a quality at-bat to draw a walk and bring Sanchez home.
David Hamilton followed up with a walk of his own to score a second run, and it provided Milwaukee with a 2-0 lead. However, it did not take long for the Dodgers to strike back.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Brewers right-hander Shane Drohan gave up a leadoff walk to Miguel Rojas, and even though Drohan and the defense secured consecutive outs afterward, it still came back to bite them.
Drohan gave up a single to Ben Rortvedt that scored Rojas, and the Dodgers got on the board. Milwaukee’s defense got off the field, but it did not stop Los Angeles from doing more damage in the sixth inning.
Drohan remained on the mound to start the sixth, and he secured an out before giving up consecutive walks. With two runners on for the Dodgers and only one out, Brewers manager Pat Murphy was compelled to go to his bullpen, and he replaced Drohan with Antonio Senzatela.
Senzatela struck out Teoscar Hernandez, but Max Muncy made him pay with a three-run home run to right field, which put the Brewers behind, 4-2.
By the end of his outing, Drohan had pitched 5.1 innings and struck out five batters while allowing three hits, three earned runs and three walks. Milwaukee had work to do, and it was not going to be easy.
A big comeback
Luckily for the Brewers, their bullpen held the Dodgers in check, but the offense hit a skid.
Milwaukee was down to its final three outs when Edwin Diaz replaced Tanner Scott to close the game. In any other season, Diaz taking the mound probably meant that the opposing team was going to lose the game, but that has not been the case this year, and it certainly was not the case on Thursday night.
After Contreras struck out, Ortiz hit a single that was followed by a single off Hamilton’s bat. Jackson Chourio followed up with a third-straight single that scored Ortiz and cut the Brewers’ deficit to one run.
Then, Garrett Mitchell provided an RBI single of his own, Milwaukee’s fourth in a row off Diaz, to tie the game. After Sanchez struck out, Jake Bauers hit an RBI single to give the Brewers a 5-4 lead.
Once again, small-ball tactics played in Milwaukee’s favor, and the Brewers used it to make Diaz melt down. In the bottom of the ninth, closer Trevor Megill sent the Dodgers down in order, and he earned his 22nd save of the season.
Once again, the Brewers used determination and a high-scoring inning to get the win, and this is arguably their most important victory in a while because it demonstrated that they can beat a team that has had the upper hand. Now, Milwaukee just needs to remain consistent for the rest of the series.
