Brewers blow second straight 9th inning lead, lose to Dodgers, 10-8

W: Brandon Morrow (2-0)
L: Carlos Torres (2-4, BS 3)
SV: Kenley Jansen (9)

HR: LAD - Chris Taylor (Grand Slam, 7); MIL - Jesus Aguilar (5), Travis Shaw (Grand Slam, 10), Hernan Perez (6)

We were treated to a pair of pitching masterpieces on Friday night.

That, well, wasn't the case on Saturday.

Rich Hill struggled for the Dodgers and Matt Garza did the same for the Brewers, both exiting after just 4 innings, and Carlos Torres gave up 5 runs while blowing a save in the top of the 9th to truly earn the loss in what ended up being a 10-8 win for Los Angeles.

Both teams got on the board in the first inning, with Adrian Gonzalez hitting an RBI double to drive in Corey Seager in the top half and the Brewers scoring two runs on an error by Enrique Hernandez and a wild pitch in the bottom half.

Despite the early lead, Garza labored on the mound. You could say the same for his defense, but saying he labored would imply there was much effort. The Dodgers tied the game at 2 in the top of the 3rd, when Yasmani Grandal hit into what should've been a double play, but Garza flat-out whiffed on a perfect return throw from Orlando Arcia, allowing Chase Utley to score.

Jesus Aguilar, who started the should-have-been double play, picked Garza up in the bottom half, crushing a two-out solo home run to put the Brewers back on top, 3-2.

As a thank you, Garza took his time getting to first base on a ground ball in the top of the 4th, leading to a collision at first base and an infield "hit" for Cody Bellinger. Garza would get out of the inning without any further damage, despite loading the bases.

That would be the end of his day, though, as he was pulled after 4 innings in favor of a pinch-hitter with two on and one out in the bottom half of the inning, but Nick Franklin struck out and Keon Broxton grounded out to end the inning with no runs added. Garza's final line included 3 hits, 2 runs (only 1 earned, even though it was his error), 4 walks and only 2 strikeouts. Officially, the Brewers say Garza left the game with a "chest contusion."

It was a bullpen game for both teams after that. Oliver Drake retired four batters for the Brewers, but was lifted in favor of Jared Hughes once getting through the lefty-heavy portion of the Dodgers order. Unfortunately, Jared Hughes had another very poor outing.

Coming on with one out in the 6th inning, Hughes allowed back-to-back hits to Chris Taylor and Hernandez, who then pulled off a double steal. Hughes responded by uncorking a wild pitch, allowing Taylor to score as the tying run. Former Almost-Brewer Yasiel Puig followed with an RBI single to drive in Hernandez and give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead. Hughes was able to get out of the inning without any further damage.

Still, that left the Brewers trying to make a comeback against the best bullpen in the league. Eric Sogard worked a leadoff walk against Chris Hatcher, and after Domingo Santana also walked, Hatcher balked, moving the runners to 2nd and 3rd. After another walk to Aguilar, Hatcher left with the bases loaded.

The Mayor of Ding Dong City, Travis Shaw, responded by clinching his re-election with a grand slam off of Josh Fields. Hernan Perez followed with a home run of his own, giving the Brewers an 8-4 lead.

The Dodgers cut into the deficit with a run in the top of the 8th, and with Jacob Barnes and Corey Knebel unavailable, Craig Counsell had to send Carlos Torres out to try to get the save. After getting Chase Utley to line out, Torres walked Seager and got Grandal to ground to first, but Aguilar made a mental error and tried to get the out at second. He hit Seager in the back with the throw instead, and everyone was safe. Austin Barnes punched a single to left to load the bases with one out and bring up Friday night's hero, Cody Bellinger. Torres fell behind 3-0 before working back to 3-2, but ended up walking in a run. Chris Taylor followed with a grand slam of his own to put the Dodgers ahead, 10-8.

Kenley Jansen, who also was supposed to be unavailable today, came on in the 9th inning for the save anyway, and the best closer in the game set the Brewers down with relative ease.

The Brewers fall to 29-27, while the Dodgers improve to 35-22. If you're into selective endpoints during lowpoints in the season:

Milwaukee will try to salvage a win in the series tomorrow, when Zach Davies makes the start against Kenta Maeda.