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The Brewers had taken the first two games of the series, but the injured list continued to grow. Now at sixteen players, the depth of the team was being tested. Despite that, the Brewers entered tonight with a chance to get another win off the National League favorite Dodgers.
Brandon Woodruff got the start tonight, and it began a bit badly. On the first pitch of the game, Dodgers’ leadoff hitter Mookie Betts hit it out of the park, and the Brewers began in a 1-0 hole. Woodruff settled down after that, getting the rest of the batters in order to end the first. Meanwhile, the Brewers went down in order to end the first inning.
In the second, Woodruff allowed another leadoff hit, with Matt Beaty reaching on a single. He was erased quickly on a double play though, and Gavin Lux flew out to end the inning. Dustin May continued strong through the first two Brewers batters in the second, but then Luis Urias hit the first pitch he saw out to left and tied the game at 1-1. However, after the home run, May called for the Dodgers’ trainers and had to come out of the game. Garrett Cleavinger came in for relief, and the Dodgers were forced into a bullpen game for the second straight day.
Urías that one @LuisUrias03 | #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/ujYjQObQpt
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 1, 2021
The Brewers and Dodgers then traded runs again in the third inning. Brandon Woodruff hit Mookie Betts with a pitch with two outs, then Corey Seager tripled to put the Dodgers up 2-1. The Brewers response in the bottom of the inning came from Travis Shaw, who homered to center to tie the game back up at 2-2.
A homer for Travis Shaw!
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 2, 2021
This went 443 feet.@travis_shaw21 | #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/mwvln28jVP
From there, pitchers took over the game for a while. The Dodgers put up another threat in the fifth inning, getting singles from Sheldon Neuse and Betts to put runners at first and third. However, Woodruff struck out Seager and Turner to end the inning. The Brewers had a threat in the sixth with an Urias single and Billy McKinney walk, but that also didn’t score a run. They tried again in the seventh with singles from Kolten Wong and Avisail Garcia, but Wong was caught stealing and the Brewers couldn’t capitalize again.
For the Brewers, Woodruff went six innings as usual and recovered from his early game issues. He allowed just two runs on six hits, striking out six and walking one. Meanwhile, Brent Suter, Devin Williams, and Josh Hader all came out of the bullpen, each pitching a scoreless inning. As for the Dodgers, they had to burn through their bullpen after Dustin May went out early. Cleavinger went 1.1 innings, and then the Dodgers got scoreless innings from Jimmy Nelson, Scott Alexander, Dennis Santana, Victor Gonzalez, Kenley Jansen, and Blake Treinen. It resulted in a 2-2 game after nine.
The game went to extra innings, with the Dodgers placing Will Smith at second to begin the inning. Drew Rasmussen got the tenth for the Brewers, with Mookie Betts leading off for the Dodgers. It began with a scare as Betts hit one deep to left, but Billy McKinney chased it down on the warning track for the first out of the inning. Rasmussen then walked Corey Seager, and Justin Turner capitalized singled to center, scoring Smith and put the Dodgers up 3-2.
With runners at first and third, the Brewers decided to intentionally load the bases and put Max Muncy on base. That forced the Dodgers to use a pinch batter, and with the bench emptied, they had to use Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw struck out, recording the second out of the inning. AJ Pollock then came up, and he hit a ground ball right to Rasmussen, who made a good catch and threw to first to end the threat with the bases loaded.
The Dodgers had the 3-2 lead, but with eight pitchers already used, the Dodgers had to go with newly called up Alex Vesia to pitch the tenth. Keston Hiura began the inning at second, with Avisail Garcia leading off. Vesia walked Garcia on four pitches. Travis Shaw was up next, and Vesia started with two strikes to Shaw. However, Shaw worked the count full and then drew the walk to load the bases with no outs. Vesia recovered against Jackie Bradley Jr., striking him out on four pitches.
Luis Urias was up next, and hit a pop-up to medium deep left field. Hiura decided to go for it, and AJ Pollock’s throw went wide of home, allowing Hiura to easily score and tie the game at 3-3. The throw was wide enough that Garcia was also able to advance to third. Billy McKinney had a chance to win it for the Brewers, but struck out to end the inning, keeping it at a 3-3 tie.
Tie game!
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 2, 2021
We go to the 11th.#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/uqsdGLMuVD
Rasmussen came back out for the eleventh with AJ Pollock starting the inning at second base. Rasmussen began with a strikeout of Chris Taylor. Austin Barnes was up next, and drew a full count walk to put runners at first and second. After a mound visit, Smith was up next for the Dodgers. Rasmussen worked back from down 3-0 to a full count, but Will Smith hit a double down the right field line to score two and give the Dodgers a 5-3 lead. That ended Rasmussen’s night and Angel Perdomo came in.
Perdomo began pitching to Betts before walking him intentionally. Corey Seager was up next, and on a 1-1 count, Betts took off, but Luke Maile nailed him at second with a strong throw to get the second out. Seager then struck out to end the inning, but the damage was done and the Dodgers had the 5-3 lead.
The Brewers started the eleventh with McKinney at second, and Vesia remained on the mound for the Dodgers. Maile led off for the Brewers, and worked a four pitch walk to put runners at first and second. With the pitcher due up, #5 prospect Mario Feliciano was brought in as a pinch hitter to make his major league debut. Feliciano showed poise and worked the count full, fouled off a ball that Smith couldn’t see, and got the walk to load the bases. That ended Vesia’s day, and Mitch White came in as the tenth pitcher for the Dodgers.
With the bases loaded and no ones, Kolten Wong was up next for the Brewers. Wong hit one deep to right, but not quite deep enough to end the game. It was deep enough to score McKinney and advance Maile though, and the Brewers cut the lead to 5-4. Hiura was up next, and struck out on three pitches for the second out of the inning. Garcia came up as the Brewers last hope, and after Maile was almost picked off third on a ball in the dirt, Garcia hit one to Corey Seager that went just under Seager’s glove, and the game was tied up at 5-5. Shaw came up with a chance to win the game, and did just that. He hit a ball down the right field line, and Feliciano scored from second on a ball that was not close on the throw home, giving the Brewers a come-from-behind extra innings win.
The Mayor called game.@travis_shaw21 | #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/jHwbiRpWLT
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 2, 2021
Travis Shaw and Luis Urias were the heroes on offense tonight, both recording two hits and driving in two runs a piece. Overall, the Brewers offense had nine hits and nine walks. They only went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, but both of those hits came when it counted most in the eleventh inning.
The series concludes tomorrow afternoon at Miller Park, and the Brewers have a chance to get a four-game sweep against the Dodgers. Julio Urias gets the start for the Dodgers, who will be trying to rescue a tired pitching staff. The Brewers have yet to announce a starter for tomorrow in what would normally be Corbin Burnes’ spot. First pitch is set for 2:10 PM.