Friday’s matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers featured a pair of young hurlers in Julio Urias and Zach Davies. For Urias, it was the first of what’s expected to be two starts before he’s likely removed from of the rotation for the time being.
Meanwhile, Davies entered 5-0 with 2.55 ERA over his past eight starts, with the Brewers going 6-2 over that span. Urias struck out Jonathan Villar to open the game and retired Aaron Hill before running into some trouble.
Ryan Braun and Jonathan Lucroy connected for back-to-back base hits, putting runners on the corners with two outs. Urias wiggled his way out of trouble by getting Chris Carter to fly out, but threw 25 pitches in the inning.
Justin Turner continued to show signs of turning the corner at the plate, as he hit a solo home run to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead through the first inning. Hernan Perez led off the second with a double, though Urias picked up two strikeouts as he retired the next three batters faced.
Braun followed a Hill one-out walk with a base hit to right field that left runners on the corners. Urias helped himself out by picking off Braun, and the young left-hander struck out Lucroy to end another scoreless inning.
Davies quickly erased a Chase Utley leadoff single in the bottom of the third by inducing Corey Seager into a double play. Scooter Gennett then tracked down a Turner pop-up down the first base line to end an eight-pitch inning for Davies.
Urias allowed a two-out single in the fourth but otherwise struck out the side to give him seven strikeouts on 73 pitches at that point. The Dodgers remained quiet in the bottom half of the inning, with Adrian Gonzalez, Trayce Thompson and Joc Pederson going down in order.
Urias ended a scoreless fifth inning with a career-high eighth strikeout of the game, exiting with the Dodgers holding a 1-0 lead and in line for his first win in the Majors. However, that immediately changed in the sixth with Louis Coleman allowing back-to-back doubles to Braun and Lucroy that tied the game.
Carter’s base hit put runners on the corners and Coleman was removed after striking out Perez. Adam Liberatore entered and promptly gave up an RBI double to Gennett. A Keon Broxter chopper to shortstop resulted in Seager throwing Carter out at the plate, though only due to Yasmani Grandal making a great play on a throw off target and in the dirt.
Davies then struck out swinging and the Brewers took a 2-1 lead to the bottom of the sixth. With two outs and Seager on first base, Gonzalez beat the shift with a base hit to left field. Although Davies caught Seager napping, his pick off throw to second base was poor and bounced into right-center field, which allowed both runners to advance.
They were stranded in scoring position as Thompson grounded softly to second base. Joe Blanton gave up a leadoff single to Villar and hit Braun with a pitch to put two on with one out. Villar and Braun then successfully completed a double steal without drawing a throw from Grandal.
Blanton worked his way out of trouble by striking out Lucroy and getting Carter to fly out. Davies plunked Will Venable with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, though nothing came of it with pinch-hitter Kiké Hernandez grounding out.
J.P. Howell worked around a Gennett one-out single in the eighth to keep the Dodgers within a run of the Brewers. The Dodgers bullpen’s work paid off as Turner tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with his second solo home run on the night.
Kenley Jansen gave up a one-out single in the ninth but nothing else. Venable’s first hit since signing with the Dodgers came in the form of a ground-rule double to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning.
Utley and Seager were intentionally walked to load the bases after A.J. Ellis advanced Venable with a sacrifice bunt. The decision backfired as Turner hit a walk-off single.
