Early offense not enough as Brewers fall to Dodgers 11-3
· Yahoo Sports
The Milwaukee Brewers were following a familiar script on Saturday night, jumping all over the Dodgers starter for a crooked number in the first inning. The offense stagnated after that, but the Dodgers’ offense didn’t and scored 11 unanswered runs to win the game 11-3.
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Milwaukee started the game with back-to-back doubles from Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang to very quickly grab the lead. Andrew Vaughn reached on an error that scored a run, Gary Sánchez walked, and then Sal Frelick singled, but Sánchez was thrown out heading to third to end the inning. An unforced mistake by Sánchez helped Roki Sasaki escape trouble, and after that, he buckled down.
The Brewers’ offense was only able to muster two hits after the first inning: A double by Jackson Chourio that just missed being a home run in the second inning and an infield single by Sánchez in the eighth.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ offense was able to get to Brewers starter Robert Gasser in the fourth inning as Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages had back-to-back doubles of their own. Kyle Tucker drew a walk, and it appeared Pages signaled the pitch grips that Gasser had to Teoscar Hernández from second base. Hernández promptly took an 0-2 slider deep to left field and off the foul pole for a three-run homer, propelling the Dodgers to a 4-3 lead.
“I think he got caught up and gave away some pitches that ended up hurting him. But you can’t give up 0-2 hits either way, you can’t throw 0-2 pitches down the middle,” Pat Murphy said.
The Brewers’ offense, despite being down just one run, could not muster a rally together. The Dodgers then continued to pile on with three more runs in the eighth inning and four in the ninth.
It wasn’t even a ton of hard contact and damage that the Dodgers did. The Brewers’ pitching staff gave up six walks in the final two innings alone, and five of them came around to score. They mixed in a couple of singles, taking advantage of the struggles of DL Hall and Jake Woodford.
The Dodgers had nine batters head to the plate in each of the final two innings. Mookie Betts made the last out each time and ended the day 0-for-6. His season batting average has dropped to .169. He did miss five weeks with an oblique strain earlier this year, but his struggles are still unusual for him. He was the only Dodger not to reach base in tonight’s game.
Robert Gasser finished with a line of 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, and 4 Ks. He was doing pretty well up until the fourth inning, facing just two over the minimum. Then he gave up some hard contact, gave up some walks, and couldn’t get through the fifth.
“I’m not pleased with it. This is a winning ball club, and I came in and was a part of two losses. It’s not ideal, just gotta minimize free passes and keep attacking the strike zone,” Gasser said.
The Brewers will still have a chance to win the series against the Dodgers on Sunday in the rubber match. Brandon Sproat will be on the mound for the Crew, while the Dodgers will have Yoshinobu Yamamoto. First pitch is at 1:10 p.m.