Burnes gets roughed up in blowout
Corbin Burnes and Tony Gonsolin toed the rubber at Dodger Stadium sharing many similarities. Both were college teammates at St. Mary's, members of the 2016 draft class and entered the day among the top contenders for the National League earned run average title.
They didn't have much in common once the game began.
Burnes turned in one of his more forgettable outings in recent memory while Gonsolin earned his 16th victory of the season as the Los Angeles Dodgers sent the Milwaukee Brewers to a 10-1 loss.
Burnes allowed seven runs, all earned, on six hits and two walks while not making it out of the fourth inning. The big blow came courtesy of Trayce Thompson, a three-run homer with two outs in the second inning that put the Dodgers ahead, 4-0.
Los Angeles tacked on three more runs in the fourth, all on Burnes' ledger. Luis Urías couldn't make a clean throw on a Chris Taylor infield grounder, allowing the inning to extend and the floodgates to open with two outs yet again. Thompson, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman all notched RBI singles to chase Burnes after 32⁄3 innings, tying the shortest start by the righthander this year.
Burnes never found the command of his cutter and with it made multiple uncharacteristic mistakes, including a 2-2 offering right down the middle that Thompson turned on for the homer that gave the Dodgers a lead.
That lead would prove insurmountable with Gonsolin on the mound.
Gonsolin, meanwhile, wasn't quite as sharp as a week ago when he shut out the Brewers over seven innings but was effective nonetheless. He went five innings, allowing only a run-scoring single off the bat of Jonathan Davis in the fifth and lowered his ERA to a leaguebest 2.10 in the process, whereas Burnes' skyrocketed from 2.48 to 2.84.
A late-night awakening helped the Brewers win, 4-0, in the series opener Monday with three runs in the ninth inning, but aside from that breakout there has been little to write home about from Milwaukee's offense in the series.
The Brewers failed to gain ground and draw within a half-game of San Diego in the wild-card standings as the Padres also lost. The fact they missed that opportunity with their ace on the mound only rubbed salt into the wound.
On day No. 12 of a stretch of 13 games in 13 days, the Brewers turned to catcher Victor Caratini to pitch the bottom of the eighth. After allowing three runs before recording an out, Caratini retired three straight Dodgers to close the inning with a 10-1 score.
Following Gonsolin's exit in the fifth inning, a trio of Dodgers relievers combined to throw three scoreless frames before they, too, turned to a position player on the mound in the top of the ninth. Hanser Alberto retired the Brewers in order to bring a fitting end to a forgettable loss for Milwaukee.
Brosseau placed on injured list
The Brewers placed infielder Mike Brosseau on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain Tuesday, one day after he suffered the injury against the Dodgers.
Pablo Reyes was recalled from Class AAA in a corresponding move.