While the slumping offense has garnered the bulk of the headlines during this terrible stretch, the Dodgers have sprung leaks in multiple facets, finding new ways to play uphill most of the time of late. The Dodgers scored the first three runs on Sunday but the result was still the same, falling 6-5 to the Brewers, getting swept by Milwaukee for the second time in two weeks.
The Dodgers also lost first baseman Freddie Freeman, who was knocked out of the game in the sixth inning by taking a sinker
off his left wrist.
As incredible as it is to already have a tired bullpen only three games following a four-day All-Star break, the Dodgers getting short starts on consecutive days didn’t help the situation. After Emmet Sheehan got only nine outs in his Saturday start, Clayton Kershaw only got 13 outs on Sunday, thanks in part to porous play behind him.
The defense has been sloppy as well, and was downright terrible in the middle innings. Tommy Edman’s bad throw extended the fourth inning, then Andy Pages absolutely biffed a would-be flyout to center to bring home the tying runs.
Esteury Ruiz missed a cutoff man during that fourth inning, then booted a ball in left field in the fifth inning to put the Brewers in prime position again. That chased Kershaw with one out, but Alex Vesia was able to strike out a pair to keep the game tied.
Ruiz made up for his fielding miscues with a solo shot to center field the bottom of the fifth, his first National League home run, that gave the Dodgers another lead.
It did not last.
Vesia got one more out in the sixth inning but left after allowing a double. In came Lou Trivino, pitching for the third day in a row, and the veteran right-hander allowed two hits and a walk to tie the score and leave with the bases loaded and two out.
Trivino, who was also the last Dodgers pitcher to pitch three consecutive days (from July 5-7), has pitched in a team-leading 26 of the 54 games since he signed with the team in May.
In came Will Klein, in his fourth organization over the last two seasons, and he allowed a two-run, two-out bloop single up the middle to bring home the go-ahead runs for Milwaukee, now winners of 10 straight.
Six of those last 10 Brewers wins came against the Dodgers in the last two weeks, the first National League team to sweep a season series against Los Angeles since the Cardinals in 2006. Milwaukee is also the first team to sweep the Dodgers twice in one season since the Diamondbacks in 2017.
Notes
- Shohei Ohtani, hitting second for the first time since June 16, 2024, homered for a second straight game, a two-run home run in the third inning.
- Anthony Banda also pitched for his third day in a row on Sunday, pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
- Down two in the ninth, the Dodgers rallied for three hits, a walk, and a run, but couldn’t push across the equalizer. Abner Uribe got the save Sunday after Trevor Megill saved the first two games of the series. After losing by eight runs to Milwaukee on July 7, the Dodgers lost to the Brewers by two, one, two, one, and one run.
Sunday particulars
Home runs: Shohei Ohtani (34), Esteury Ruiz (1)
WP — José Quintana (7-3): 6 IP, 4 hits, 4 runs, 5 strikeouts
LP — Lou Trivino (3-1): ⅓ IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Sv — Abner Uribe (2): 1 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk
Up next
The homestand concludes with three games against the Twins, who just lost a series to the Rockies over the weekend. Shohei Ohtani gets the ball for the Dodgers on Monday night (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), followed by a healthy dose of Dustin May.
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