For the second straight night, the Brewers fell behind and needed a late rally. They loaded the bases in the ninth, but couldn’t break through this time and lost to the Dodgers, 3-1.
Early on, the Brewers made Yoshinobu Yamamoto work. Even though they only managed one baserunner — a Jake Bauers walk — in the inning, Yamamoto needed 26 pitches to get through it. Meanwhile, Robert Gasser was efficient for the Brewers, needing just 14 pitches for the first inning. However, the Dodgers hit three singles in that inning, the last of those a Mookie Betts single to drive in a run. That put the Brewers down 1-0 after one inning.
From there, the two starters matched each other with scoreless innings in the next three frames. The Brewers had a scoring chance in the third after Joey Ortiz hit a one-out double, but he was left stranded there after Garrett Mitchell and Jackson Chourio both struck out. The Dodgers had a scoring chance with two outs in the bottom of the inning after Andy Pages singled and stole second, but he was stranded there.
The Brewers’ offense broke through in the fifth inning. Luis Lara led off the inning with a long double that just barely stayed in the park. It did set up the offense. David Hamilton went for the bunt, and it was a good one that went for a single. Ortiz brought in the run after that, hitting a sharp line drive but right at Kyle Tucker. It was more than deep enough to score Lara, and the Brewers tied the game at 1-1.
Unfortunately, that was all the offense could manage that inning. Mitchell struck out again, and Chourio grounded out to end the inning.
That tie didn’t last long. In the bottom of the inning, Andy Pages hit a two-out solo home run to left field, and the Brewers were down again, 2-1. One inning later, Tommy Edman added another solo home run to center, extending the deficit to 3-1.
Gasser pitched into the seventh, starting the inning by getting a line out from Hunter Feducia. After walking Shohei Ohtani, his day came to an end. It was a solid day for Gasser overall. He allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and one walk while striking out seven. It was also the most pitches he has thrown in a game, as he finished the day with 102 pitches thrown.
Meanwhile, Yamamoto mostly kept the Brewers in check, but the Brewers managed to get him out of the game after six innings. He allowed just one run, four hits, and two walks, and struck out nine Brewers.
The bullpens kept both offenses in check for the next two innings. Evan Phillips and Tanner Scott pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings for the Dodgers. Grant Anderson finished out the seventh inning scoreless and worked around a walk. Bryse Wilson pitched the eighth inning and struck out the side.
Once again, the Dodgers brought in Edwin Díaz to close in the ninth inning. It started out looking like it could be a repeat of last night. Andrew Vaughn led off the inning and worked a full count before getting hit by a pitch. He was replaced by pinch-runner Jihwan Bae, who stole second on a 1-1 count. It put a runner in scoring position, but Christian Yelich struck out for the first out of the inning.
William Contreras was up next, and Díaz was struggling heavily as he threw five pitches all out of the strike zone, walking Contreras. His first pitch to Lara was high and inside as well, then he threw a slider right down the middle. Lara hit it sharply on the ground, but Edman made a running grab to rob Lara of a base hit. It wasn’t quick enough to turn a double play, so Edman took the sure out of Lara at first.
That moved both baserunners up to second and third, putting the tying run in scoring position. Hamilton was up next, and Díaz continued to struggle to throw strikes. Hamilton didn’t swing once and drew a five-pitch walk. Ortiz was up next with another chance with the bases loaded. Unfortunately, he couldn’t complete the rally for the Brewers, grounding out to Betts to end the game.
The offense remained subdued again, managing just one run, five hits, and four walks. Those hits were scattered among five different Brewers, with Bauers and Hamilton the only two Brewers on base twice. They had their scoring opportunities tonight, but went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base.
With the series tied 1-1, the Brewers will send their ace to the mound tomorrow night. Jacob Misiorowski will face Justin Wrobleski in Saturday’s game, which will be a national broadcast on FOX. First pitch is at 6:15 p.m.