MILWAUKEE — Pitching to contact helped Justin Wrobleski go 6-1 and pitch deep into games. It was not his friend on Friday night.
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Wrobleski gave up six hits in the first inning, including a three-run home run to William Contreras, and the Dodgers went on to lose to the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-1, in the opener of a three-game weekend series between division leaders.
“They put the ball in play and they were hits. That’s just kind of how it goes,” Wrobleski said. “Obviously the home run there, that’s what kind of hurts the whole outing. But yeah, they put the ball in play and credit to them, they were hits. They did a good job.”
The four runs Wrobleski allowed in the first inning were more than he gave up combined in his first five starts after joining the Dodgers’ rotation. His past three starts now have had the feel of a course correction – he has given up 14 runs in his past 19⅔ innings.
“It’s a fair question,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I don’t know. I think that in some of the earlier outings, that Contreras cutter would have been a double play. And I don’t know, I still believe that for him to weather that first inning and to still go five innings and throw 100 pitches, and the other outings – I think he’s just been victim to that one big inning. Like that one [seven]-run game, he gave up four in one inning, gave a couple late.
“I think that the body of work has been fine, I really do.”
Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang led off the first inning with back-to-back singles. Wrobleski’s next pitch, a cutter down and in, was sent 410 feet into the ‘Wisco’ night by Contreras.
“There’s a couple base hits, and then before we can really get settled in, he throws a cutter down and in to Contreras’ wheelhouse, and you’re down 3-0,” Roberts said.
“I think early, he just made some mistakes, and they took advantage of him. … You knew going into this series that these guys put the ball in play.”
They kept putting it into play. After a line out, Wrobleski gave up three more singles, only one hit more than 85 mph off the bat. A sacrifice fly brought in a fourth run, a walk re-loaded the bases and Wrobleski finally escaped by striking out the 10th batter of the inning.
The Brewers scored another run in the second inning, but Wrobleski managed to get through five innings – his shortest start since his first of the season on April 6 – with no more damage to his ERA which jumped from 2.49 to 3.07 in a matter of hours.
“It wasn’t anything particular that I did differently. It was just when they put in play, it was outs as opposed to being hits. That’s just the way the game goes sometimes,” Wrobleski said. “I think the execution probably got a little better as the outing progressed, and therefore the stuff was better. But it sucks to only get through five there, give up those runs in the first and put our team in a hole.”
Put in a hole by Wrobleski’s rough first inning on Boy Band Night in Milwaukee, the Dodgers’ offense never got NSYNC, struggling against New Kid on the Block, rookie right-hander Logan Henderson.
For the first three innings, Dodgers hitters only knew One Direction – back to the bench. Henderson walked Shohei Ohtani to start the game. Ohtani was caught trying to steal second base and Henderson struck out five of the next eight hitters on his way to seven strikeouts in five scoreless innings.
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Ohtani led off the fourth inning with the Dodgers’ first hit of the game. Walks loaded the bases with two outs but Max Muncy popped out.
After scoring 31 runs in their Color Me Badd sweep of the Angels last weekend, the Dodgers’ offense has returned to its slump. They have scored 10 runs in the four games since (half of those in one game against the San Diego Padres) and had twice as many walks (six) as hits (three) against Henderson and the Brewers’ bullpen on Friday.
“I don’t think so. I still think that the at-bats have been much better,” Roberts said of the apparent regression this past week. “Certainly in Anaheim, the results were there. Even in San Diego, I thought Teo swung the bat better. Didn’t get some results, got some results. I thought Mookie [Betts] is swinging the bat better than he’s been showing as far as results. Freddie has been consistent.
“So I think overall it’s been better. Maybe not this game or the runs we scored in San Diego. But I think it’s turned. … I still think the at-bats are much better than 10 days ago.”
The Dodgers’ last chance to make a New Edition of the game came in the seventh inning.
Teoscar Hernandez reached base on a throwing error by Brewers third baseman Luis Rengifo. A single put two runners on with no outs. Hernandez moved to third on a fly out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ohtani. Betts appeared to extend the inning when Rengifo fielded his ground ball and made a wide throw to first base, appearing to pull Andrew Vaughn off the base. The Brewers appealed the safe call and Brewers fans got a Big Time Rush when the call was overturned, ending the inning.
Paul Gervase and Jonathan Hernandez followed Wrobleski with three scoreless innings in relief, extending the Dodgers’ bullpen’s scoreless streak to 32 innings.
In the eighth inning, though, Muncy was struck in the right wrist by a 95.5 mph from Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby. Muncy left the game. X-rays taken after the game were negative but he was struck in the same wrist by a pitch in August 2019. A small fracture wasn’t revealed until three days later and he missed two weeks.
This time, Muncy said he thought the ball caught part of the wrist guard he wears, possibly saving him from a more serious injury.
“It hurt really, really bad,” Muncy said. “In that moment, you’re trying to figure out what you can feel, trying to assess how bad you think it is. For me, I think we skipped the worst, because I’ve been hit in that spot before, and I’ve broken that spot before. The biggest thing I always took with me from that was just the nauseous feeling that you get, and I didn’t quite have that tonight. So that’s why I’m feeling pretty optimistic about it.”
Roberts said he doesn’t expect Muncy to play again this weekend. Santiago Espinal will start at third base on Saturday.
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