The Dodgers opened up their final week of Cactus League play with a lopsided defeat against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday, relinquishing a seven-run lead and falling 24-9.
Tyler Glasnow was given an extended leash as he worked his way into the fifth inning. He tossed 79 pitches (46 strikes) while striking out six and walking just one hitter, but was charged with three earned runs as the bullpen failed to preserve the Dodgers’ lead prior to the start of the inning. Jerming Rosario and Blake Treinen
couldn’t stop the bleeding as the Brewers rallied for a 10-spot, highlighted by a grand slam from Brandon Lockridge.
The Brewers rallied again in the top of the seventh inning for an additional nine runs, extending the lead to 12 and giving Milwaukee 19 unanswered runs. Dino Ebel was not in attendance to see his son, Brady, cap off the scoring with an opposite field home run. The Dodgers managed to respond with a sacrifice fly from Chris Newell in the seventh inning and an RBI single from Zyhir Hope in the eighth inning, but still trailed by double-digits. Milwaukee eventually returned the favor in the ninth inning with an additional five runs.
Teoscar Hernández has been on a recent power surge over the past week, and it continued on Monday as he launched a three-run home run of Patrick for his third home run of the spring to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead. Hernández is now hitting .459 (17-36) across 14 games, with his 15 RBI and 1.298 OPS both ranking best on the team among regular starters.
Max Muncy connected for his third home run of the spring, tying Hernández for the team lead, blasting it 454 feet to deep right center field.
Hyeseong Kim has played well in the two games since returning from the World Baseball Classic, going 2-6 with a pair of stolen bases and three runs scored. Kim is now hitting .421 in 19 at-bats this spring and he appears to be the heavy favorite to win the starting second base job for the start of the regular season.
Zach Ehrhard continues to flourish this spring, as he drove in the first run of the game and is now hitting .327 with a .940 OPS across 20 games.
Monday’s contest marked the largest margin of defeat for the Dodgers this spring, but they still maintain a positive run differential of 21. Their 166 runs scored are the most among both Cactus League and Grapefruit League teams.
UP NEXT
The Dodgers are on the road as they take on the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night at Surprise Stadium (6:05 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Roki Sasaki makes his third start of the spring, facing left-hander Bailey Falter.
