Brewers take series finale over Dodgers, 5-3

Box Score

The Brewers escaped with a series split after winning Thursday afternoon over the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3.

Milwaukee struck first in the bottom of the first, as Andrew McCutchen launched a solo homer to left-center off Dodgers starter Andrew Heaney to make it 1-0.

From there, the game stayed quiet for the most part until the third inning, when McCutchen followed up a Christian Yelich single with his second homer of the day, making it 3-0 and giving McCutchen 13 homers on the season.

With a 3-0 lead, Corbin Burnes was dealing through five innings, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out five. Hunter Renfroe added to the lead in the bottom of the fifth, hitting a two-run homer into the Brewers bullpen after McCutchen reached on a wild pitch-ending strikeout.

Leading 5-0, the Brewers looked comfortable heading into the sixth inning with Burnes still going strong. However, the Dodgers had other ideas. Trea Turner, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith started the inning off with a double and two singles to put runners at first and second and cut the deficit to 5-1. After a strikeout of Max Muncy and a lineout by Justin Turner, Wisconsin-native Gavin Lux smashed a liner into right-center field that looked like it was heading out for a three-run homer.

Instead, Tyrone Taylor sacrificed his body, getting the ball in his glove while reaching over the wall. Despite this, the impact of the wall made him lose the ball, which rolled into center field. Renfroe ran over from right field and got the ball in, but not before Lux made it to third with a two-out, two-run triple to cut the game to 5-3. After an umpire review, the call was confirmed and Craig Counsell then opted to go to Brad Boxberger.

Boxberger got out of the inning without further damage, walking Joey Gallo and striking out Chris Taylor. The Brewers bullpen of Boxberger, Taylor Rogers, Matt Bush and Devin Williams ended up combining for 3 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings after Burnes’ exit, allowing just two walks and no hits while striking out six, including a strike out of the side in the ninth inning by Williams for his eighth save of the season.

Heaney, who lasted only 4 ²⁄₃ innings and gave up all five runs (three earned) did manage to strike out 10 in his short start. Burnes’ final line was 5 ²⁄₃ innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out six.

McCutchen finished the day 2-for-4 with three runs and three RBIs from his two homers, while Renfroe went 3-for-3 and was a triple shy of the cycle. Outside of McCutchen and Renfroe, Yelich was the only other Brewer to have a hit, as he went 1-for-4, but the six hits were still enough to put five runs across for the win.

After splitting the four-game set with the NL-leading Dodgers, Milwaukee should be flying high as they head to Wrigley for a three-game battle with the Cubs this weekend. Game one of the series starts at 1:20 CT on Friday, when Aaron Ashby gets the ball opposite Keegan Thompson. The game will be available on Bally Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.