Dodgers Fend Off 3rd Place Brewers With A Much Needed Series Win

Posted by: Matthew Marcotte in Dodgers Score, Los Angeles Dodgers, Santa Clarita Latest News July 9, 2024 - 3:53 pm 0 1,189 Views

L.A. remains afloat in the National League race for first place as they sit just three and a half games back of the first-place Philadelphia Phillies and two games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Dodgers kicked off the best-of-three series against the Brewers on Friday, July 5 and were led by Will Smith’s home run barrage en route to an 8-5 victory.

Smith became the 4th catcher in Dodgers history to record three home runs in a game as he now sits forever etched into the record books alongside Yasmani Grandal (2016), and Hall of Famers Mike Piazza (1996) and Roy Campanella (1950).

The personal home run derby from Smith kicked off in the first inning as he took Brewers righty Aaron Civale deep on the 7th pitch of his at-bat.

Smith hammered another one in the third to give L.A. a short-lived lead as the Brewers would put up five runs the very next inning, including a grand slam by first baseman Rhys Hoskins to give Milwaukee a 5-2 lead.

The only Dodger not named Will Smith to hit a homer that night was Miguel Vargas, who launched a two-run shot, which made for his third homer of the year.

Smith’s third home run of the night and 14th of the season was another solo shot that came in the seventh as he tied things up at five apiece. After an RBI double from Freddie Freeman and an RBI single by Teoscar Hernandez in the later innings, the Dodgers were able to walk away with a win.

L.A. should be thankful for Smith’s heroics as two-time MVP Shohei Ohtani continued to struggle, striking out three times and adding to his streak of zero hits in his previous 11 at-bats.

Dodgers ace and Hart High School Alumni Tyler Glasnow had been perfect through the first three innings, but the wheels fell off temporarily in the fourth as he gave up five runs and three hits. He recovered and allowed zero hits in the next two innings besides one runner who reached base due to an error by Gavin Lux.

“Tyler was great all night outside of that inning,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

Game two was another electric outing for L.A. as they hit three homers, including two in the bottom of the eighth, as they pulled away to win 5-3.

Smith’s hot hand didn’t cool off overnight as he hit a first-inning dinger for the second game in a row. His 4th consecutive homer makes him the first Dodger to accomplish that feat in a decade.

2018 MVP Christian Yelich took Dodgers righty Evan Phillips deep in the eighth inning to tie the game at 3-3.

Vargas broke the tie shortly after with a one-run shot to left-center field and was followed up by Ohtani, who finally broke through his slump with a 430-foot missile, giving L.A. a two-run lead. That homer marks Ohtani’s 28th on the season as he sits atop the NL in total home runs and is only four behind New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge, who is leading the league with 32 homers.

Lefty Alex Vesia got the save for the Dodgers with one strikeout in the ninth followed by a foul out and a fly out to secure a win for L.A.

The Brewers snapped their seven-game losing streak and avoided a series sweep with a 9-2 routing of L.A on Sunday.

Yelich and Blake Perkins led the charge for Milwaukee, with both of them recording a homer, three hits and three runs batted in.

Both teams were scoreless through the first three innings until Yelich broke the stalemate with a two-run shot, which opened the floodgates at Dodger Stadium.

Chris Taylor launched his third homer of the year which cut into Milwaukee’s lead but it was no use as the Brewers would score five unanswered runs and never look back.

Dodgers lefty Justin Wrobleski made his major league debut and gave up five hits, four runs and two walks through five innings pitched. Wrobleski also struck out four batters which should help soften the blow of giving up two homers in his first career loss.

Although they would have preferred a sweep, taking two games against the NL Central-leading Brewers allows L.A. to maintain its second-place lead for the time being.

The Dodgers will look to keep Milwaukee stuck in third and focus on catching the Phillies as they travel to Philadelphia to kick off a three-game series on Tuesday, July 9.

Every Dodger game can be listened to on KHTS Radio on FM 98.1 and AM 1220.