The Milwaukee Brewers came into Los Angeles and swept the beleaguered Dodgers in the three-game series. Capping off the weekend, the Brewers defeated the Dodgers 6-5. To make matters worse, the Dodgers were swept in the season series to Milwaukee as they lost all six games to the red-hot Brewer ball club. If the Dodgers were hoping that the All-Star break would give them a chance to reset and get back on track, they were gravely mistaken. With the loss on Sunday afternoon, the Dodgers have now lost 10 of their last 12 games. Adding insult to injury, Dodger Freddie Freeman was hit by a pitch on the wrist and was forced to leave the game early. X-Rays were negative, but it’s expected Freeman will miss some playing time over the coming days.
Everything appeared to be back on track for the Dodgers early on. In the third inning Andy Pages doubled and later scored on a Dalton Rushing sacrifice fly. Mookie Betts, who was now back in his familiar leadoff spot, singled and then scored when Shohei Ohtani followed with a two-run homer. Los Angeles was ahead 3-0 after three innings.
But the Dodgers would implode in the top of the fourth and allowed a gritty Brewer team to even the score. Clayton Kershaw walked the leadoff batter, Andrew Vaughn. It was all downhill from there. A throwing error by Tommy Edman allowed Vaughn to score on an infield single and then a complete gaff in center field by Andy Pages allowed another run to score before the inning was over. The game was now tied 3-3.
In the top of the fifth, Kershaw hit William Contreras with a pitch and then gave up a hit to Vaughn. Contreras was able to reach third after a throwing error by Esteury Ruiz. A visibly upset Kershaw was removed after 81 pitches. Alex Vesia was inserted into the game and somehow managed to keep Milwaukee from scoring.
Ruiz, making up for his earlier blunder, homered to centerfield for Los Angeles in the bottom of the fifth, putting the Dodgers back on top, 4-3.
Milwaukee would answer back big in the following inning scoring three runs on the strength of hits strung together by Joey Ortiz, Eric Haase, Jackson Chourio and Isaac Collins. Playing “Small Ball”, the Brewers took a lead they would not relinquish, 6-4.
The Dodgers made one last charge in the ninth inning when Dalton Rushing pushed across Will Smith with a sacrifice hit that closed the gap to 6-5. But with two men on base and two outs, Betts would fly out to center field dashing the hopes of a come from behind walk off victory for Los Angeles.
When asked to comment on his struggles this year and his move back to the lead-off spot, Mookie said, “It’s just another day at the park, nothing really changed, it doesn’t matter. We just got to play better, in all facets. I can’t speak for everyone. I just know for me, I gotta play better, gotta figure it out.”
Before cutting his postgame interview short, saving himself from saying something he would regret, Dodger Ace Kershaw addressed the question about the poor defense behind him saying, “I don’t know, I was just frustrated myself. Yeah, we scored three runs, and I give up a walk, it’s just frustrating. I thought I pitched okay, just made some mistakes and I was frustrated. It happens; we’re not playing well as a team. I wanted to help win the game today and didn’t do enough to do it, so that’s frustrating.”
Tensions rose in the locker room as Kershaw attempted to answer more questions about his pitch selection and the team’s slide, “Guys, I don’t know. I threw it (the Splitter) when I thought I needed to do, I don’t know. I’m frustrated. We’re all frustrated. I don’t know how else to say it. We didn’t win a game. No excuses, just play better.”
Kershaw had enough when he was asked what he made of the fact the Brewers swept the season series over the Dodgers answering, “I don’t make anything of it! We need to play better tomorrow, I don’t have much to say, I’m gonna get into myself in trouble, so let’s just let’s just call it,” and he walked away.
Skipper Dave Roberts gave his assessment of the less than stellar play of his team as of late. “To have the hiccups that we have had the past couple days, it’s very uncharacteristic. You want to make sure that it’s not the offense bleeding into the defense, because that is something that is not acceptable. When you are playing a premium defensive position (Center Field), it’s very important. We need those plays to be made.”
The Dodgers hold a three and a half lead over San Diego and will welcome in the Minnesota Twins for a must win three game set.
Meanwhile, the Brewers, who have won ten games in a row, will travel to Seattle to take on the Mariners.
By William Trillo
