WP: Alex Wood (6-5); LP: Brent Suter (8-7); Save: Caleb Ferguson (2); Home runs: LA - Matt Kemp 2 (16,17); Mil - none
the Dodgers’ side of the Box Score is very pretty
The Milwaukee Brewers (56-45) lost the finale of the 3 game set against the Dodgers (55-44) in convincing fashion this afternoon at Miller Park, 11-2. Brent Suter started for the Crew and was shelled in three innings before leaving with a recurrence of his forearm tightness. Considering how LA teed off on Suter, one wonders if he was completely healthy going in.
Anyways, the Dodgers touched up Suter for eight hits and six runs, all earned, with two homers from Matt Kemp, leading off the second and third. The second was the first of two five run innings for Los Angeles. The second five run frame came in the fifth, off of Taylor Williams. Williams had a perfect fourth, but gave up six straight base runners to start the fifth. Five of them scored, and as there was an error from first baseman Ryan Braun, two of the five were unearned.
Dan Jennings got through the sixth and Brewer position players finished off the last three innings with scoreless performances for both. Hernan Perez lowered his career ERA from 0.00 to, well, 0.00 with his two scoreless innings (one strikeout, one walk, one hit batter). He was charged with a hit when Keon Broxton dropped a long flyball on the warning track that should have been an error.
Erik Kratz shut out LA on one hit in the ninth, notching a strikeout and inducing a 1-6-3 double play with his knuckle ball against Caleb Ferguson, the second of two Dodger pitchers.
Ferguson finished up for starter Alex Wood, who went six innings and gave up two runs (both earned) on five hits with three walks. The Brewers actually took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when five of the first six batters reached base on three singles and two walks. But with two runs in and the bases loaded Perez tapped into a 1-2-3 double play to end the inning. The only out of the first six was a line-out to second by Ryan Braun. Braunie tested Machado at short continuously today with no good results.
Ferguson’s three innings included four strikeouts, a single, a walk, and no runs. And his second save!
Milwaukee also loaded the bases in the bottom of the second, after the Dodgers had put up their five spot in the top of the inning, but Braun’s hot grounder into the hole was again played by Machado to end the inning.
After that the Brewers reached base on a third inning error by Max Muncy, a fifth inning lead off single by Lorenzo Cain, and a one out walk and two out single (Travis Shaw, Perez) in the bottom of the eighth.
Want to know more? I can’t fathom why, but you could read the game notes.
Game Notes:
- Suter was robbed of a hit by the official scorer in the bottom of the second. His liner glanced on a hop off of the glove of Logan Forsythe at second and I guess they figured if they gave him a hit it would just be overturned on appeal.
- Broxton’s misplay in center was much more error worthy; he ran back to the track and kind of started to jump but didn’t have to; the ball hit directly off of his glove.
- Christian Yelich had two more hits off of a lefty, and Lorenzo Cain had two hits and a walk.
- The only position player to get the whole game off was Jesus AguilarPer
- If Manny Machado is a horrible fielding shortstop, I sure didn’t see it in this series.
- Kemp had a single to go with his two homers and scored three times, and Forsythe reached base four times with three singles and a walk.
- Perez hit Austin Barnes with a 50 mph bloop pitch that Barnes made no attempt to get out of the way of. If I were the ump I would have made him get back in the box and hit.
- Bellinger led off the top of the fifth with a triple on a drive off of the wall in right to right center. The carom came out past Broxton, but LoCain never made a move to back him up and Keon had to run it down.
- It is beyond me how Ferguson gets a save for that.
The Cubs beat the Cards so Milwaukee is 3.5 back. The Washington Nationals come to town tomorrow night and will start the fourth straight lefty that the Crew will face coming out of the break, with Gio Gonzalez (6-6, 3.72) going for the Nats. Jhoulys Chacin (8-3, 3.68) toes the rubber for Milwaukee.