Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — Give the Dodgers an opening, and they’ll drive a Mack Truck right through it. After being stymied by a good night of Brewer pitching for the first part of the game, the Dodgers were gifted one free out by an error on the Milwaukee infield. And that was all it took. After that, they exploded in a five-run sixth inning and then cruised to a 6-2 win over the Brew Crew in the first game of this series between division leaders.
The big inning was made possible by the error, but it was Bobby Miller who commanded attention for much of the night. The rookie righthander gave up one run in the first when Christian Yelich singled on the first pitch of the ballgame and came around to score after a walk and a couple of productive outs. However, that was all Miller would surrender for the rest of the ball game. After that shaky start, he retired 18 straight, giving up just the one hit the whole night. It was a brilliant performance, one that is starting to show an increased maturity for the young pitcher. Miller’s final line for the evening: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K.
“If I just command the ball, I think I can be a ‘count -on’ guy,” Miller said. “I’m just trying to prove myself that I can be a ‘count-on’ guy and the guy I want to be. So just go out there and compete every day, keep the head down, keep the tunnel vision and stay commanding the baseball.”
Though Miller was great, it looked like Brewer starter Adrian Houser was every bit his match in the early going. Houser was perfect the first time through the Dodger batting order and for a good bit of the game, it looked like that first inning run just might hold up in this one.
However, the Dodgers finally scratched across the tying run in the the bottom of the fifth on a Miguel Rojas groundout, but it was the sixth inning that turned the game on its head. After the first out of the inning, Will Smith grounded the ball to the glove side of third baseman Andruw Montaserio. It would have been a tough play, but Montaserio gacked the throw, and Smith was safe at first on the error.
That was all the Dodgers needed to open the flood gates. Max Muncy singled Smith to second, A J.D. Martinez double brought him home. Then, after a pitching change, pinch hitter Kike Hernandez came up big with a two-run single to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead. Amed Rosario popped out, but back-to-back-to-back singles from James Outman, Miguel Rojas, and Mookie Betts brought home two more insurance runs. By the time the final out of the inning was recorded, the Boys in Blue had sent ten men to the plate and scored five times. Other than that, the Brewers were not able to get anything going in the final frames and went pretty quietly to defeat.
“I know it’s hard to win a Major League baseball game,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Regardless of opponent, regardless of who we’re playing against, we just have to play good baseball.”
It was the ninth straight win for the Dodgers, and one against a quality opponent. Clayton Kershaw hits the mound on Wednesday night to try to make the winning streak an even ten in a row. He’ll match up against veteran lefty Wade Miley, who is having a pretty nice year himself (6-2. 2.90). It’ll be Kersh’s second trip to the mound since coming back from the IL, so he’s not likely to go deep, but stranger things have happened. Game time: 7:10 pm.
