May injured, Dodgers walked off in extras in a very bad day in Milwaukee

Man, oh, man. That one hurts. More than some of the other hurts. After taking a lead in both the tenth and eleventh innings, the Dodgers managed to lose another tight game, this one to the Brewers by a score of 6-5. Travis Shaw dealt the final blow with a two-out, 0-2 single that scored the winning run in the bottom of the eleventh. But even more importantly, the Dodgers young stud Dustin May had to leave the game in the second inning with an apparently serious arm injury. So the day pretty much blew all the way around.

May injury looks serious

Dustin May seemed to be rolling early. He had a quick first inning, and piled up three strikeouts in the first five outs. But in the second inning, he gave up a game-tying home run to Luis Urias. No biggie. One run. But then, he threw a 2-2 curveball to the next batter Billy McKinney and immediately called for the training staff. There was no doubt. He couldn’t continue. He didn’t even try to throw another pitch. He was immediately lifted from the game and reliever Garrett Cleavinger had to come in on short notice to complete the inning.

After the game, a somber Dave Roberts said that May reported a “shooting pain” in his right arm. The Dodgers’ skipper said that May will receive an MRI in Chicago and will update the media as further information comes available.

Dodgers pen pushed hard

The ballgame itself was a story of the bullpen being pushed to the brink until it finally broke. Every time the Dodgers got ahead, the Brewers seemed to have an answer in the very next inning. They led, 1-0. Then it was tied 1-1. Then they led 2-1. Then it was tied 2-2. Then, they led 3-2 in the tenth. Then it was tied 3-3. Then, they led 5-3, and finally they lost 6-5. Ugh.

In fact, in the first nine innings, the Dodgers’ pen stepped up big time and kept the game close in the wake of the May injury. Nine relievers came out of the pen as Roberts emptied every bullet in his chamber on this one. Second guessers might question the bullpen use, as former starter Jimmy Nelson, who was rested and could have given the Dodgers some length, was lifted after just one inning of work. This sent the dominos tumbling to the point where with the game on the line, we had to depend on recent call-ups Alex Vesia and Mitch White. And it just didn’t go well in extras for either of them.

Betts goes yard on first pitch

For a day that ended up so badly, it started out great. Mookie Betts ripped Brandon Woodruff‘s first pitch of the game over the center field fence. Before the Milwaukee fans had a chance to sit down with their beer and brats, the Dodgers were up 1-0.

Luis Urias did get the tying homer before the injury to Dustin May, and with the game tied at 1, it was up to the bullpen the rest of the way. After a Corey Seager triple put the Dodgers back in front in the top of the third, Garrett Cleavinger gave up another home run to Travis Shaw, and the game was quickly tied again in the bottom of the frame. It looked like it might be a very long day for the Dodgers pitchers.

Relievers keep Dodgers in the game

But the rest of the Dodger relievers during regulation time were perfect. Jimmy Nelson followed Cleavinger. Then Scott Alexander. Then Dennis Santana. Then Victor Gonzalez. Then Kenley Jansen. Then Blake Treinen. In total in was six straight scoreless innings, which was saying something considering that the day before had been a bullpen day. At the end of nine innings, the score stayed tied at 2-2.

Turner plates a run in the tenth

Off we went into extra innings. Again with the goofball rules with the runner on second to start the tenth inning. In the Dodgers half, Will Smith took the bag. After a warning track flyout from Mookie Betts and a Corey Seager walk, Justin Turner came to the plate. He ripped the second pitch he saw from Drew Rasmussen into center field and scored Will Smith.

However, with a man on third and just one out, the Dodgers were unable to push an insurance run across. With an empty bench, Roberts had to call on Clayton Kershaw to pinch hit again. He struck out and AJ Pollock grounded out on a comebacker, and the inning was over. This failure to score a second run would haunt them in the bottom of the inning.

Vesia’s wildness leads to sac fly

Reliever Alex Vesia came on to try to put the game away in the bottom of the tenth. Unfortunately, the new Dodger just couldn’t find the strike zone. He walked the first two hitters he faced, putting the tying run on third base for free.

After striking out Jackie Bradley Jr. Vesia gave up a fly ball to AJ Pollock that wasn’t particularly deep. Keston Hiura tagged from third, and a good throw might have nailed him. Unfortunately, Pollock’s throw was up the first base line and Hiura scored easily. Vesia got out of the inning with no further damage, but the depleted Dodger lineup went into the eleventh with the lower half of the line up due to bat.

Smith comes up big in the eleventh

In the top of the eleventh, AJ Pollock was the designated runner at second. Austin Barnes was able to coax a one-out walk out of Rasmussen and Will Smith came to the plate with two men on. In a great at-bat, Smith worked the count full and fouled off some good pitches. Then Smith got the pitch he was looking for and laced a triple into the right field corner. Both Pollock and Barnes scampered home and it looked like the Dodgers just might have finally won a close game.

But Mookie Betts, who had been walked, was thrown out trying to steal second and Corey Seager struck out, so once again the Dodgers left a runner at third. And once again the Brewers would make them pay for it.

Walks will haunt…

The bottom of the eleventh was just an ugly inning. Vesia walked the bases full for the second straight inning. Dave Roberts called on the last arm he had in his bullpen, Mitch White, and dropped the bases-loaded, nobody out jam into his lap. Kolten Wong greeted him with a sac fly to make it 5-4, but now there was one out. White got a K on Keston Hiura in three straight pitches and suddenly there were two outs.

It looked like White and the Dodgers might just wriggle out of it. White got ahead of the next hitter Avisail Garcia 1-2, but he couldn’t close the deal. Garcia sneaked a sharp grounder under Corey Seager’s glove to tie the game. Then, White got another two-strike count on the next hitter, Travis Shaw. But once again White couldn’t put him away. Shaw ripped an 0-2 pitch into left and the game was over.

Ouch.

Not much time for the Dodgers to lick their wounds. They try to salvage the final game of the series against the Brewers in a Sunday matinee tomorrow afternoon. This time Julio Urias has the job of ending the losing streak. 11:10 am PDT start.