The Brewers, who had a bit of a rough patch in San Diego earlier this week as they were swept by the Padres, bounced back nicely over the weekend, winning three of four against the mighty Dodgers — aided by some shaky defense — and rebuilding their lead over the Cubs in the NL Central.
William Contreras, batting in the leadoff spot for the first time in over two years, started things off with a single. Luis Lara then flew out, and Jackson Chourio, after just missing a homer as he fouled one
just to the left of the left-field foul pole, struck out. With two outs, Jake Bauers picked up a single of his own, but the Crew couldn’t get anything across as Andrew Vaughn flew out.
Logan Henderson gave up a leadoff single to Shohei Ohtani but left him there, inducing a flyout and striking out a pair to get through a clean inning.
The Brewers got one across in the second, with Brandon Lockridge drawing a walk, Jonathan Ornelas singling to push Lockridge to third, and Contreras taking a walk to load the bases for Lara. Lara hit a soft grounder to short, and Mookie Betts made the flip to second for the final out, but Tommy Edman missed the ball, and everyone was safe, giving Milwaukee a 1-0 lead before Chourio had a deep flyout to end the inning.
Henderson worked around another leadoff single in the second, inducing a flyout and double play to keep it 1-0. The Brewers hit into a double play of their own in the third, as Bauers singled before Vaughn grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, and Gary Sánchez then flew out on a nice over-the-shoulder grab by Freeman running into the outfield.
Henderson had the first true 1-2-3 inning of the day in the bottom of the inning, and Tarik Skubal returned the favor in the top of the fourth. After recording the first two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Henderson hung a changeup to Max Muncy, who promptly put it into the seats in right, tying it up at 1-1.
It wouldn’t stay tied long, though, as Chourio doubled and Bauers singled with two outs in the fifth to take a 2-1 lead.
Henderson bounced back from the homer in the fourth and recorded another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, and Skubal did the same in the top of the sixth, ending his day with three consecutive strikeouts. Henderson kept rolling in the sixth with another 1-2-3 frame, and Edgardo Henriquez took over for Skubal in the seventh.
Henriquez recorded two outs without a problem, but Chourio once again picked up a hit with two outs. Dave Roberts went to lefty Alex Vesia to face Bauers, and the move didn’t pay off, as Bauers doubled to bring Chourio home. Vaughn then singled to bring Bauers home on a close play at the plate — Bauers had a perfect slide to avoid the tag — and suddenly the Brewers were in command with a 4-1 lead.
Henderson, who set a career-high with 6 1/3 innings in San Diego on Monday, was back out for the seventh, and after walking Andy Pages to begin the inning, he recorded three more outs to get through seven innings.
Kyle Hurt took over for Vesia in the eighth and got a 1-2-3 inning with three strikeouts before Chad Patrick took over for Henderson in the bottom half of the inning.
Patrick got a flyout from Edman to begin the frame, but Teoscar Hernández singled into right for the Dodgers’ first hit since Muncy’s homer in the fourth. Hernández then advanced on a wild pitch before moving up to third on a very hard-hit single by Hunter Feduccia to Ornelas at second — Ornelas couldn’t quite handle the rocket as it trickled into right, putting runners at the corners.
Note: If Brice Turang was healthy and playing at second, there’s a decent chance both of those singles end up as outs.
Pat Murphy went to the workhorse Aaron Ashby to play lefty-lefty matchup, with Ohtani and Freeman due up representing the tying and potentially go-ahead run. Ashby wouldn’t need to face Freeman, though, as he induced an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play from Ohtani on the third pitch he threw, escaping the jam with the 4-1 lead still intact.
Contreras led off the ninth with a flyout, but Lara followed with a walk before Chourio hit a fly ball to the wall in right. Kyle Tucker, fighting the sun a bit, just missed the catch, and Chourio and Lara were at second and third, respectively, on a double. Hurt was pulled for the lefty Jack Dreyer with Milwaukee looking to add on with Bauers — already 4-for-4 while facing only lefties in Skubal and Vesia — at the plate.
Bauers drew a walk to load the bases before David Hamilton hit a chopper to second with a drawn-in infield. Edman completely whiffed (for the second time today), and the ball rolled into right as all of the runners took two bases, giving Milwaukee a 6-1 lead before Dreyer got out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts.
DL Hall took the bottom of the inning and gave up a one-out solo homer to Pages but nothing else, giving Milwaukee a 6-2 win and a 3-1 series win in a battle of two of MLB’s best.
Henderson earned his seventh win with a career-high seven innings, allowing one run on Muncy’s solo homer while striking out six. Patrick got into a bit of trouble, but Ashby bailed him out by inducing the inning-ending double play, and Hall gave up a homer but still closed things out for the win.
Bauers led the offense with a 4-for-4 day, finishing with three singles, a double, a walk, and two RBIs. Chourio added three hits and scored three runs, while Vaughn added a pair of hits and drove in one.
The Brewers finally get a day off on Monday before they welcome the Mariners to town for three games beginning Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. Kyle Harrison gets the ball for Milwaukee with Bryce Miller starting for Seattle. We’ll see you then.
