MILWAUKEE — Over the next two weeks, the Dodgers could face some of the best starters in the National League.
The Dodgers have a date with this year’s National League Cy Young Award front-runner in Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. They could face him again next weekend when the teams face off in Miami. A few days after that, Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom could be looming in a key series against the Mets.
On Thursday, the Dodgers got an appetizer for that level of competition as they faced off against reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes. Los Angeles was able to get to Burnes in a three-run sixth but ultimately fell to the Brewers, 5-3, at American Family Field.
“I think for our ballclub as hitters, it’s good to face guys like that because you’re always gathering information,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “The more a hitter sees a particular pitcher, I think it’s a benefit. We’re gonna see some good arms coming up in the next 10 days, and we’ll have a lot of close ballgames.”
Facing Burnes is always tough, but doing so in the afternoon following a night game has to be up there as one of the most difficult tasks for an opposing lineup in the sport. Through five innings, the Dodgers were left searching for answers against the right-hander.
In the sixth, they were able to find some. Will Smith singled in Trea Turner to get the Dodgers on the board.Gavin Lux then continued his impressive season at the plate, hitting a two-run triple off Burnes, which could’ve easily been a three-run homer had it not been for a strong effort by Tyrone Taylor to bring the ball back at the wall.
Lux’s triple ended Burnes’ outing after 5 2/3 innings, only the sixth time this season he didn’t get through at least six innings.
“It was definitely good to get to him, get him out of the game in the sixth, kind of ruin his day a little bit and put a couple runs on him,” Smith said. “That was a big swing by Gavin to get us back in the ballgame. He pitched well today, but we still found a way to get a couple runs late.”
The effort was positive for the Dodgers given this is the level of pitching they’ll see in the postseason. It’s also the type of arm they’ll see over the next two weeks. Unfortunately for Los Angeles, it wasn’t enough on Thursday.
Andrew Heaney had his first rough outing of the season, allowing five runs (three earned) over 4 2/3 innings. Heaney yielded two homers to Andrew McCutchen to put the Dodgers in an early role.
“I thought I had good stuff, I just made two not-great two-strike pitches and tried to sneak a 2-0 slider by McCutchen there to try and steal a strike and just left it out over the plate,” Heaney said. “It’s frustrating. I know how good Burnes is, runs are at a premium in a game like today, I just put us behind the 8-ball.”
The third homer off Heaney wasn’t entirely his fault, however.
Heaney did his job, striking out McCutchen, which should’ve ended the inning with the Dodgers’ deficit still at 3-0. But a passed ball on Smith allowed McCutchen to reach first base safely, keeping the inning alive. Six pitches later, Hunter Renfroe smacked another two-run homer off Heaney, ending his outing.
“It sucks to give a guy first base on a freebie,” Smith said. “Just gotta get the next guy out, and we didn’t do that.”
Overall, the Dodgers wrapped up the seven-game road trip with a 4-3 record. After a blazing start to August, the Dodgers’ lineup has cooled off, scoring just 13 runs over the past five games. It’s the first time Los Angeles has had even the slightest struggles at the plate since the break. A lot of that has to do with the level of competition improving.
“It’s gonna happen,” Roberts said. “But you know the old adage, good pitching beats good hitting, so if they’re gonna go out there and make pitches and catch the baseball, it’s tough. But I still think that the quality of at-bats one through nine is there.”
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