Rich Hill struggled through another short outing, and the Milwaukee Brewers cruised to a victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Maryvale Baseball Park. For a second consecutive start, Hill failed to complete two innings.
Spotted a 1-0 lead behind Joc Pederson’s leadoff home run, Hill worked around a one-out walk and picked up a strikeout in a scoreless bottom of the first. But the veteran left-hander battled command issues in the second inning, gave up an RBI double, and was removed after walking the bases loaded with two outs.
Layne Somsen allowed a two-run single prior to getting out of the inning, and Hill was ultimately charged with three runs in 1.2 innings pitched. He walked four of 10 batters faced on the afternoon.
Darnell Sweeney led off the third inning with a base hit, but was tagged out when Pederson lined into a double play. Junior Guerra then retired Yasiel Puig to end the inning. Ross Stripling took over in the bottom of the third and promptly allowed a double and RBI single.
Stripling recorded back-to-back strikeouts to strand a runner at third base, but the Dodgers trailed 4-1 through three innings. Jesus Aguilar’s two-run homer off Fabio Castillo extended the Brewers’ lead to 6-1 in bottom of the fourth inning.
Dodgers reliever Madison Younginer struck out the side in the fifth but not before allowing an RBI single. Trevor Oaks worked around two base hits in the sixth to complete a scoreless inning in relief. It was the first time the Brewers didn’t score at least one run since Hill’s opening frame.
Oaks followed up with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the seventh. Tyler Holt and Jose Miguel Fernandez both walked with one out in the eighth, only to be stranded. Nick Ramirez issued back-to-back walks and failed to make a play on a tapper in front of the mound, which loaded the bases.
Tim Dillard entered in relief and threw a wild pitch prior to retiring Holt to finish out the Brewers’ 7-2 victory.
