Brewers bashed by Dodger long-ball barrage
By Phil Watson
For five innings, right-hander Matt Garza was cruising along in his first career start against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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Garza (2-4) shut out the Dodgers on two hits through the first five frames and held a 1-0 lead before the Dodgers broke out the big sticks, powering three homers across the sixth and seventh innings to pound the Milwaukee Brewers 8-2 at Miller Park Tuesday night.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Brewers (8-19) and marked the first loss in the managerial career of Craig Counsell.
After the Crew went up 1-0 with an unearned run in the second off former Brewer right-hander Zack Greinke, the two starters matched zeroes with each other until the sixth.
Garza got the first out of the frame before a single and a walk set up Justin Turner’s three-run blast to center field that put Los Angeles (17-9) up 3-1. It was Turner’s fourth homer of the year.
That was enough for Greinke (5-0), who won his 10th straight decision dating back to last year and picked up his first career win over Milwaukee by working 7.2 innings and allowing only two hits.
But the Dodgers were just getting started with their home-run artillery.
After Greinke lined a double to center, right-hander Rob Wooten was relieved after facing only two batters in favor of left-hander Neal Cotts.
Cotts got a strikeout for the second out of the inning before Jimmy Rollins cracked a two-run shot to left-center, his third of the season, to make it a 5-1 game.
Cotts walked the next batter before Adrian Gonzalez hit his ninth homer of the season to center field. His nine homers are tied with Todd Frazier of the Cincinnati Reds for the National League lead.
The Dodgers added an insurance run in the ninth off right-hander Michael Blazek before Milwaukee was able to push across a run in the bottom of the ninth.
Aramis Ramirez got the second inning going with a one-out single and after Scooter Gennett—playing in his first game since being activated from the disabled list earlier Tuesday—took a called third strike, Jean Segura reached second base when center fielder Joc Peterson misjudged a fly ball and couldn’t come up with the catch, allowing Ramirez to score from first.
Ramirez, who raised his average to .235 with two of Milwaukee’s three hits on the night, drove in the other Milwaukee run with a double in the ninth inning off reliever Daniel Coulombe, driving in Ryan Braun, who walked, took second on defensive indifference (a phrase that always makes me think of the catcher shrugging his shoulders in a mocking fashion) and went to third on Adam Lind’s groundout.
Garza allowed three runs on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts in six innings. Wooten was charged with a run in one-third of an inning, while Cotts’ ERA shot up to 6.10 after being tagged for three runs in two-thirds of a frame.
Jeremy Jeffress worked a perfect eighth, striking out the side on 19 pitches, before Blazek was charged with a run on two hits and a walk while getting two outs. Will Smith came on to get the final Dodger out in the ninth.
The ninth-inning run snapped a string of nine straight scoreless appearances for Blazek.
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Gennett had Milwaukee’s only other hit, an infield single in the bottom of the fifth.
The teams are back at it Wednesday at 7:10 p.m., with right-hander Wily Peralta (0-4, 4.35 ERA) on the hill for Milwaukee against right-hander Joe Wieland, who will be recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to start after injuries to Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy.
Peralta is 2-1 with a 4.61 ERA in three career starts against Los Angeles.
Wieland will be making his Dodger debut after going 1-0 with a 7.15 ERA and 1.853 WHIP in four appearances—two starts—for the San Diego Padres last season. He was part of the December blockbuster trade that sent former All-Star Matt Kemp south to San Diego.
He made one start against the Brewers in 2012, taking the loss and allowing five runs—three earned—in five innings while striking out eight.