Dodgers lose game and lead in NL West
Brian Dozier caught a late-afternoon flight from Minnesota and hoped for the best. Maybe the plane would land early. Maybe the game would run long.
Maybe, just maybe, he could channel a little Kirk Gibson, emerging from the dugout to be an unexpected hero. Maybe another time. Dozier, traded to the Dodgers in the noon hour, arrived at Dodger Stadium in the late innings. He did not play. In his absence, the Dodgers demonstrated why they traded for him.
The Dodgers lost their third consecutive game, this one 1-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers. The winning pitcher in each game was a left-hander, and Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi said before the game that an emerging deficiency against left-handers prompted a search for a right-handed bat like Dozier.
The Dodgers fell out of first place in the National League West for the first time since July 14. They trail the Arizona Diamondbacks by a half game, and they find themselves in a secondplace tie with the Colorado Rockies.
Milwaukee left-hander Wade Miley, facing the Dodgers for the second time in two weeks, held them to two hits over seven innings. In those two starts, he has pitched 13 innings without giving up an earned run.
Dodgers rookie Walker Buehler also pitched seven innings, giving up the one run in the third inning, on a single by Christian Yelich and a run-scoring double by Lorenzo Cain.
Cain also made the defensive play of the game, leaping above the centerfield fence in the seventh inning to rob Cody Bellinger of what would have been a tying home run. A frustrated Bellinger stood at second base, hands on hips, to watch the replay on the giant Dodger Stadium video board.
“I said ‘Damn,’ ” Bellinger said. “That’s all you can say.”
Osu-no
Before the Dodgers acquired setup man John Axford on Tuesday, they pursued a host of relievers, including Kelvin Herrera of the Washington Nationals. Herrera, who had closed for the Kansas City Royals earlier this season, was not traded by the Nationals.
One closer who was traded: Roberto Osuna, from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Houston Astros. The Astros acquired Osuna, an All-Star last season, as he approached the end of a 75game suspension for domestic violence. Osuna is expected to join the Astros this weekend at Dodger Stadium.
In 2015, the Dodgers backed away from a trade for Aroldis Chapman after domestic violence allegations surfaced against him. Chapman eventually was traded to the New York Yankees and served a 30-day suspension.
Did the Dodgers have any interest in Osuna?
“You can draw your own conclusions,” Zaidi said.