After dropping the series opener, the Los Angeles Dodgers tried to bounce back against the Milwaukee Brewers to avoid setting up a potential sweep scenario on Sunday.
The Brewers have given the Dodgers a lot of trouble in the regular season in recent years, but the Dodgers have had the edge in the postseason. It once again looked like the Dodgers’ struggles would continue against Milwaukee early on, but they came back to take the lead and win the game.
Dodgers 11, Brewers 3: key takeaways
Roki Sasaki struggles early
The game started incredibly poorly for Roki Sasaki, which was disappointing given what appeared to be a major step forward in his development in his last outing. Sasaki allowed back-to-back doubles to start the game, giving the Brewers a 1-0 lead.
The right-hander then made a throwing error to first base trying to field a ball hit back to him, and the Brewers added another run. Sasaki then walked a batter and allowed another single to give the Brewers a three-run first inning.
The Dodgers got out of the inning thanks to Andy Pages throwing out Gary Sánchez at third base.
Sasaki allowed two more baserunners to reach in the second inning with a two-out double and walk, but from there, he retired the next 10 hitters he faced to finish off his night. That got Sasaki through the fifth inning, which was somewhat of a surprise, the way the game started with his 35-pitch inning.
In total, Sasaki allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks over five innings.
Teoscar Hernández puts Dodgers ahead
After being down early, the Dodgers rallied their way back into the lead with a four-run fourth inning. Freddie Freeman started them off with a double and scored when Andy Pages made it consecutive doubles to put the Dodgers on the board.
Kyle Tucker worked a one-out walk, and then Teoscar Hernández blasted a three-run homer off the left field foul pole to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.
The 4-3 score remained until the eighth inning when the Dodgers extended their lead with a three-run inning. It was again started by Freddie Freeman, who took a walk, and Pages followed him again with a walk of his own.
Will Smith singled in the fifth run of the game and Hernández also singled to put the Dodgers up 6-3. The Dodgers then scored their seventh run on a safety squeeze play with Miguel Rojas bunting and allowing Tucker to score.
Hernández then drove in another two runs in the ninth inning with a single to bring home Freeman and Smith, who both reached on walks. The Dodgers also continued to add on with RBI hits from Santiago Espinal and Shohei Ohtani.
The Dodgers walked 11 times in the game, which was a season-high, and Hernández drove in six runs in the game.
Dodgers bullpen sets franchise record
The Dodgers’ bullpen set a new franchise record with 34 consecutive scoreless innings pitched. The previous mark of 33 consecutive scoreless innings was set in 1998.
Alex Vesia tied the streak in the sixth inning following Sasaki’s departure, while Kyle Hurt broke the record in the seventh inning.
Tanner Scott extended their streak to 35 innings, and Jonathan Hernández made it 36 innings in the ninth inning.
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