Brewers walk off Dodgers 5-4 in extra-innings thriller

Box Score

In a back-and-forth contest on Tuesday night that featured plenty of dramatics, the Brewers came out on top with a 5-4 walk-off win over the Dodgers.

The Brewers jumped on the board early in the first inning. Christian Yelich drew a leadoff walk, after which Willy Adames homered to right-center to give Milwaukee a 2-0 lead.

Brandon Woodruff turned in a solid outing. He allowed two runs in five innings, scattering five hits, walking two and striking out eight.

Woodruff’s fastball was as lively as it has been at any point this season. He averaged 97.1 mph with his four-seamer, picking up 11 whiffs with the pitch.

The right-hander held the Dodgers off the board through the first four innings, but Joey Gallo and Mookie Betts tagged him for solo home runs in the fifth to tie the game at 2-2.

The Brewers immediately reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth courtesy of a Yelich moonshot.

It was Yelich’s first home run since July 2, snapping a 31-game homer drought. It also marked the end of an 0-for-26 hitless streak.

Brad Boxberger was sharp in his first outing in nearly a week, working a perfect sixth inning with two strikeouts.

Matt Bush got the seventh, and Chris Taylor made him pay for throwing a first-pitch fastball down the middle. Taylor drove it to right-center to tie the game at 3-3.

Things then settled down for a couple of innings. Taylor Rogers and Devin Williams each worked perfect innings for the Brewers, and old friend Phil Bickford pitched a scoreless ninth to send the game to extra innings.

After Hoby Milner worked a scoreless 10th inning against the heart of the Dodger lineup, the Brewers appeared on the cusp of victory.

With two on and two outs in the bottom of the 10th, Andrew McCutchen laced a 104-mph liner into center that would have easily scored the winning run, but Taylor triggered flashbacks from the 2018 NLCS with a diving catch to end the inning.

The momentum continued in the Dodgers’ favor. Justin Turner drove in the placed runner with a base hit off Brent Suter to make it 4-3 in the 11th.

Suter was able to limit any further damage, and Los Angeles turned to Craig Kimbrel to protect a one-run lead.

Hunter Renfroe led off the inning with a surprise bunt and reached without a throw. After Kolten Wong struck out, Luis Urias walked to load the bases with one out for Victor Caratini.

Caratini blooped a soft fly ball into shallow right. Renfroe took off on contact, allowing him to score right behind Andrew McCutchen to seal the walk-off win.

The Brewers and Dodgers are back at it on Wednesday night for the third contest of the four-game series. Eric Lauer will get the ball for the Brewers against Tony Gonsolin. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. CDT.