Brewers power past Dodgers, 6-3
Lind’s home run is part of 5-run first inning
After facing the likes of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke the previous two games, the Milwaukee Brewers took out their offensive frustrations on Joe Wieland. Immediately. Breaking through for five first-inning runs, the Brewers held on Wednesday night for a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park, their second victory in three games under new manager Craig Counsell.
How unusual was that early outburst for the Brewers? They had scored a total of five first-inning runs over their previous 27 games.
“It was a good first inning,” Counsell said. “Our guys jumped on him. We had good at-bats that whole inning, real good at-bats. Sometimes, you jump on him with a big inning, and it’s that big inning that wins you the game.”
The recipient of the early support was right-hander Wily Peralta, who entered the game with a 0-4 record through five starts. A lot of that had to do with a lack of support, including just four runs from his teammates over his previous three outings. Peralta had pitched with a lead just once previously.
“It felt great to get five runs right away in the first inning,” said Peralta, who went eight innings, allowing seven hits and two earned runs with no walks and six strikeouts.
“You go out there and try to attack hitters, and that’s what I tried to do tonight. I’ve been working on my mechanics in the bullpen, and I’ve felt better the last few starts.”
Acquired from San Diego over the winter in the Matt Kemp trade, Wieland was summoned from the minors as the latest fill-in for a Dodgers rotation missing injured starters Brandon Mccarthy and Hyun-jin Ryu. He was rudely wel-
comed as the Brewers scored four runs before he recorded an out.
The Brewers’ outburst started with Carlos Gomez punching an 0-2 pitch from Wieland into right field for a single.
Scooter Gennett, playing his second game after returning from a hand injury, then crushed a 3-1 fastball out to right-center for his first home run of the season.
Ryan Braun, who homered twice in a game against Wieland in 2012 when he pitched for San Diego, drew a walk and Adam Lind followed with another two-run homer. Lind got enough of a breaking ball to hit a towering fly to right that dropped over the fence for his fifth home run of the season.
The damage should have ended there, but Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick made a bad throw trying to turn a double play on a grounder by Jean Segura, who then stole second base and scored on a single by Martin Maldonado.
“It was awesome to throw up a crooked number like that, for Wily especially,” Gennett said. “It seems like he goes out there and shuts them down, and we only score one or two. It was nice to give him some breathing room early.”
Now, if the Brewers could only figure out what to do with Joc Pederson and Adrian Gonzalez. Pederson, the Dodgers’ promising rookie centerfielder, ripped two home runs to center off Peralta and rubbed it in further by making a leaping catch against the wall to rob the Brewers’ pitcher of an extra-base hit in the sixth inning.
“That guy’s a good hitter,” Counsell said. “He’s got quality, quality plate discipline and he’s got power. Those are two pretty good traits.”
Gonzalez, a veteran first baseman on the other end of the experience spectrum, has been strong at the plate all season but always kicks it up a notch at Miller Park. He collected three more hits, including a double, to boost his career batting average to .417 in his home away from home.
Gonzalez has reached base in 10 of 13 plate appearances in the series.
After the first inning, the only real drama came in the Brewers’ radio booth. The entrance door became jammed between the fifth and sixth innings, trapping announcers Bob Uecker and Joe Block and their crew. A ladder had to be placed against the front window and a worker climbed through to remove the door from its hinges, with Uecker assuring the listening audience that everyone would make it out alive.
As for on-field activity, the Brewers — with five wins in seven games, including three before the managerial change — are trying to erase from their memory banks how awful they were over the first month.
“This team is very confident and talented,” Gennett said. “Now that things are turning around, we’re starting to get some higher energy and some ‘swag’ out there, like we like to call it. It’s nice to see.”