The Los Angeles Dodgers got a monkey off their back and snapped a six-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-1, at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers’ offense and pitching have both struggled at times as of late, but both units came together with a strong performance in a comfortable victory against the Brewers.
Joc Pederson hit his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the second off Jhoulys Chacin. The home run extended the Dodgers’ streak to 29 straight games with a long ball at Dodger Stadium, which is three off from tying the all-time Major League record set by the Colorado Rockies.
Pederson just missed a home run down the right-field line in his first at-bat of the day before he was able to keep the second one fair.
Though, it was actually Alex Verdugo who got the offense started in the bottom of the first inning. He stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs and slapped a single to a hole in the shift to bring home two runs.
Verdugo then came up in the bottom of the fifth inning and launched a home run to right-center field off reliever Chase Anderson. Verdugo is not known to be a home run hitter, but he now has three in limited opportunities so far this season.
Coming off a bullpen game on Saturday, the Dodgers needed a strong outing from Ross Stripling to give their taxed bullpen a rest.
Stripling delivered exactly what was needed, tossing eight innings of one-run ball while allowing just four hits with three strikeouts and one walk to earn his first victory of the season.