The Dodgers never found much rhythm Sunday, and the Brewers made sure it stayed that way in a 6-2 Milwaukee win.
Tarik Skubal was in and out of trouble from the start. He needed 15 pitches to survive the first inning after leaving two runners on, and Milwaukee kept pressing with two outs.
Jonathan Ornelas singled to left, William Contreras drew a walk to load the bases, and then Luis Lara sent a soft grounder to short. Tommy Edman misplayed Mookie Betts’ feed, and the Brewers were on the board again.
By the time Skubal escaped, he had thrown 33 pitches and faced seven hitters in the inning.
Milwaukee’s patience showed up again later, too. After Skubal had retired seven straight since the third inning, Jackson Chourio broke things open with a double to right-center.
Jake Bauers followed with his third hit against Skubal to bring Chourio home, and Andrew Vaughn kept the two-out pressure going with another hit. Skubal finished that fifth inning having needed 28 pitches, after combining for just 19 across the third and fourth.
He did finish with a strong burst, striking out the side in order in his final inning. Skubal threw 109 pitches total, topping his previous career high from 2022.
He was charged with one earned run, the fewest he has allowed as a Dodger. Through three starts with his new team, he is 0-2 with a 3.18 ERA, with 19 strikeouts and six walks over 17 innings.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, had trouble doing anything against Logan Henderson. Shohei Ohtani opened with a leadoff single in the first and Betts did the same in the second, but neither advanced. After Betts’ hit, Los Angeles went hitless in its next eight trips until Max Muncy finally broke through with a two-out solo homer in the fourth to tie the game at 1-1.
That was the Dodgers’ only answer for a long stretch. Henderson allowed nothing else after the Muncy homer, and he worked a career-high seven innings on just 93 pitches. Betts reached with two outs in the seventh, but it didn’t lead anywhere.
Milwaukee kept leaning on the same formula against the Dodgers’ bullpen. Jackson Chourio singled off Edgardo Henriquez in the seventh, Bauers drove him in with an RBI double against Alex Vesia, and Vaughn followed with another two-out knock to push the Brewers ahead 4-1 for the second straight game.
Kyle Hurt returned to the mound for the first time since August 9 and struck out the side in order across 1 1/3 innings in the eighth.
Los Angeles tried to rally in the bottom of the eighth against Chad Patrick. Teoscar Hernández and pinch-hitter Hunter Feduccia each singled with one out, and Pat Murphy answered by bringing in Aaron Ashby to face Ohtani. Ashby got the ground-ball double play he needed to end the threat.
The Brewers added more in the ninth. Jack Dreyer entered for Hurt, walked Bauers, then watched David Hamilton hit a grounder that skipped under Edman’s glove, allowing Milwaukee to score two more runs.
Andy Pages answered with a ninth-inning homer off D.L. Hall, but that was the Dodgers’ final damage.
With the loss, the Dodgers dropped three of four to Milwaukee and now sit three games back in the race for the best record in the National League. Over the last two regular seasons, Los Angeles is now 3-10 against the Brewers, including 1-6 at home.
In Other News...
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Dodgers Rotation Tension Is Growing As Justin Wrobleski Slips
Justin Wrobleskis second-half slide has turned into one of the quieter but more pressing issues in the Dodgers rotation. The All-Star left-hander has been rocked for 19 earned runs over his last four starts, and his ERA has climbed from 2.62 to 3.56, a sharp change for a staff that has leaned on him as part of its stabilizing core.
Help may not be far off, though the timing only adds to the pressure. Tyler Glasnow is nearing the end of his rehab assignment and is expected back after one more start, leaving the Dodgers with another important decision to make just as the rotation picture gets more crowded. Elsewhere on the pitching landscape, Tarik Skubal and Logan Henderson are set to square off in a game that has drawn extra attention after recent Brewers-Tigers trade chatter, another reminder of how quickly the market can shift around the arms teams trust most. [Read more 🡒]