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Playoff return highlights 2000s turnaround
MILWAUKEE — Along with the turn of the century and the start of a new millennium, the 2000s marked a new era of Brewers baseball, one that included a playoff appearance.
It began in 2001 with the opening of Miller Park, the Brewers’ new state-of-the-art, $400 million home. The changes continued in 2002, when Doug Melvin was named general manager of the club. In 2004, the Brewers had new ownership, as Mark Attanasio took over the club from Commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig.
All that set the stage for the team’s return to the playoffs, 26 years after losing the 1982 World Series.
Brewers alumni Geoff Jenkins and Bob Wickman are scheduled to participate Friday in a pregame autograph session to celebrate the 2000s as part of the Brewers’ 40th Anniversary season. On Sunday, all fans will receive a collectible Brewers Bobble Head doll, featuring CC Sabathia securing the final out of the regular-season finale, playoff-clinching game in 2008, compliments of Palermo’s Pizza and Piggly Wiggly.
Inaugural Season
After a one-year delay due to a fatal crane accident, Miller Park finally opened its doors to the public on April 6, 2001. Among those in attendance were President George W. Bush and Selig, both of whom threw out ceremonial first pitches.
With his 435-foot home run in the bottom of the eighth, first baseman Richie Sexson sent the crowd of 42,024 home happy, as the Brewers secured the first win at Miller Park, 5-4, over the Cincinnati Reds.
The Brewers’ new ballpark got rave reviews, to say the least.
“There’s no comparison,” said former Brewers infielder Jim Gantner. “This is an awesome building and a great place to play. You miss County Stadium, but when you see this, you forget about it real quick.”
“I did play in County Stadium and know what it was like to play there,” Sexson said. “This is definitely 10 times better than County Stadium.”
While much of the credit for getting the ballpark built goes to Selig, and deservedly so, the Milwaukee native, along with his daughter, credited the fans on Opening Day 2001.
“There are many people that played a role in building this magnificent park,” Selig told the fans. “But none are greater than all of you.”
“You’re the best fans in the world,” added then-team president Wendy Selig-Prieb. “Enjoy this wonderful ballpark. You deserve it.”
In their first season playing at Miller Park, the Brewers had high hopes, but weren’t any better than previous seasons. In fact, they were worse, finishing 2001 in fourth place in the National League Central with a 68-94 record as injuries decimated the team in the second half.
One year later, the ballpark, with its unique fan-shaped roof, was host to the first 100-loss season in Brewers history, as the Crew finished 56-106, good for last in the division. With that came more changes for the Brewers, this time in the front office.
Melvin gets a second chance
In April 2002, the Brewers fired manager Davey Lopes after just 15 games as Milwaukee skidded out to a 3-12 record in Lopes’ third season at the helm. Five months later, general manager Dean Taylor was cut loose as well, as the Brewers shook up their front office.
Doug Melvin was tabbed for the job, given a second chance to show what he could do running a Major League club. Melvin, the former Texas Rangers general manager who led that franchise to three division titles in four years during the 1990s, was named the eighth general manager in Brewers history on Sept. 25, 2002.
“I don’t believe in rebuilding plans,” Melvin said in a spirited press conference. “If there was a three-year plan, I would wait and buy a ticket in, what, 2005? I don’t believe in that, I want people to be a part of this process to get to where we want to go.
“We’ll enjoy it a lot more if we do it together.”
Melvin brought in former Jays general manager Gord Ash as his assistant GM and hired manager Ned Yost, who brought along with him a new coaching staff. But Melvin’s best move in his first days as general manager now appears to have been keeping amateur scouting director Jack Zduriencik in place.
Under Zduriencik, the Brewers put together some of the best Drafts in club history, restocking their system with top-level talent, and building one of the best cores of young players in the Major Leagues.
Among those draft during Zduriencik’s tenure are former first-round picks Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, second baseman Rickie Weeks, former Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy, right fielder Corey Hart, staff ace Yovani Gallardo, catcher Jonathan Lucroy and center fielder Lorenzo Cain.
As well as building from within, one of Melvin’s best moves as general manager came in 2008, when he traded highly rated prospects Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley and Zach Jackson to the Indians for Sabathia, who would help carry the Brewers to the Wild Card.
New Ownership
Along with Melvin, Ash and Yost, the organization brought in another new face in 2004, as Mark Attanasio, a Los Angeles investment banker and New York native, took over the club from the previous ownership group, which included Selig-Prieb.
When introduced at a news conference on Oct. 4, 2004, as the Brewers’ owner-elect, Attanasio said he was “up to the challenge” of turning around the ballclub. He also admitted he had dreamed as a child of owning a Major League baseball club.
“As a kid, I lived, breathed and died with the Yankees forever,” Attanasio said. “Once I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to hit a curveball, I gave up dreams of playing Major League Baseball, and when I got a little older thought maybe one day I could own a team.”
One of Attanasio’s biggest impacts upon taking over as the team’s principal owner was a commitment to raising the payroll to make the Brewers more competitive, despite playing in the smallest market in baseball.
After the payroll dipped as low as $27.5 million in 2004, it was raised to $39.9 million in Attanasio’s first season as owner. A year later, the Brewers’ payroll was up to $57.6 million, and by Opening Day 2007, it reached $71 million. When the Brewers reached the playoffs in 2008, the payroll was up to $80.9 million, and in 2010, the Opening Day payroll was up to $90.4 million.
Even with the financial commitment of Attanasio’s ownership group, he acknowledged in his first news conference at Miller Park that he had a lot to do to match the legacy of the Selig family in Milwaukee.
“The Attanasio family feels it has big shoes to fill here,” Attanasio said. “But that being said, we know that we can be the stewards of baseball in Milwaukee for the next 35 years.”
With Melvin, Ash, Yost and Attanasio in place, the Brewers were just a few years away from ending their playoff drought.
The Wait Is Over
When the Brewers returned from St. Louis in 1982 having lost to the Cardinals in the World Series, no one could have guessed it would take 26 years for the club to return to the playoffs. After all, they were expected to be back the following season.
But time after time, the Brewers’ best ballclubs came up short in 1983, ’88, ’91 and ’92. Even in ’07, when the Brewers led the division for much of the season, they came up just two games behind the Chicago Cubs.
Finally, in 2008, it was the Brewers’ turn.
Milwaukee entered the 2008 campaign with high expectations after the ’07 season saw the Brewers post their first winning record since ’92. In an effort to bolster their playoff hopes, Melvin brought in Sabathia just before the All-Star break on July 7. Sabathia was so dominant over the final three months of the season for the Crew that he even garnered a few votes for the NL Cy Young Award.
In 17 starts for the Brewers in 2008, Sabathia went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA, tossing seven complete games, including three shutouts. Aside from a near no-hitter against the Pirates in Pittsburgh, the most impressive of those seven complete games was Sabathia’s last.
On the final day of the regular season, Sabathia made his third consecutive start on three days’ rest and worked all nine innings in the most clutch pitching performance in Brewers history. In front of 45,299 fans, Sabathia threw 122 pitches, struck out seven, scattered four hits and allowed only one unearned run.
“It’s unbelievable what he has done for the guys on this team, this organization and this city,” left fielder Ryan Braun said. “He’s revived baseball in Milwaukee. He took whatever expectation we had and destroyed it.”
Braun played a pretty big role in the club’s run as well. On that night, Braun made the difference at the plate, as he blasted a tie-breaking, two-run home run with two outs in the eighth inning, which gave the Brewers the 3-1 win.
Just days earlier, Braun delivered a grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning for a 5-1 Brewers win.
“It doesn’t get any better than that. It’s difficult to describe,” Braun said. “The grand slam the other night, that was pretty special, but this one was pretty meaningful.”
With the Brewers finally returning to the postseason, Miller Park hosted the first two playoff games in its history on Oct. 4-5, 2008. The first game, Game 3, was the Brewers’ first win in the postseason since that 1982 World Series. Game 4 was a different story, however, as the Phillies secured a trip to the NLCS with a 6-2 win.
They came up short of winning their first playoff series since 1982, but for fans in Milwaukee and across the state of Wisconsin, the ’08 season was one to remember, and one 26 years in the making.
For the first time since 1982, the Brewers played games in October that mattered.
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Pirates beat 8/28
Karstens not likely to miss another start
MILWAUKEE — The Pirates got some good news on Friday. It appears right-handed starter Jeff Karstens’ right arm fatigue is not likely to cost him another start.
After missing his last start on Wednesday, Karstens now looks to be on pace to make his scheduled start on Tuesday in Chicago. Karstens threw at Miller Park on Friday before the Pirates’ series opener with the Brewers.
“He had a light side today,” said Pirates manager John Russell. “It went good.”
LaRoche gets start against Brewers
MILWAUKEE — With the Brewers sending a left-handed starter to the mound on Friday against the Pirates, manager John Russell thought it would be a good time to give Pedro Alvarez the night off.
More importantly, though, Russell saw it as a good chance to get Andy LaRoche a start.
“Andy hasn’t played much,” Russell said. “We’ve been pinch-hitting him quite a bit — and I’d like to get him some at-bats so he feels a little more comfortable at the plate. We’ve been looking at it over the last four or five days moving into this week what would be a good day.
“With [Chris] Narveson pitching today, we thought it would be a good day to get Andy in there and get Pedro a day off.”
While Russell hopes the start will help LaRoche, he sees plenty of benefits in it for Alvarez as well.
“It’s not so much [that] Pedro needs the rest, it was more about getting Andy in the game,” Russell said. “[But] letting Pedro watch again, those young guys when they sit, they can learn a lot.”
This month, LaRoche has started just two games, once at first base and another time at third base. His last start came Aug. 10 at first base against the Padres in San Diego. Since then, he’s pinch-hit 10 times — going 1-for-10 with a single and two strikeouts.
As a pinch-hitter this season, LaRoche has gone 4-for-28 with two doubles and two RBIs along with six strikeouts and two walks. In 55 starts, LaRoche is batting .228 (45-for-197) with three homers, 12 RBIs, six doubles and 16 walks against 29 strikeouts.
“It’s tough for anybody when you’re used to playing a lot and you go to the bench — and you don’t get to play,” Russell said. “We’ve tried all year as much as we can to keep those guys in the game as much as we can and get them some starts here and there.
“It will help them when they pinch-hit. That’s a tough enough job without having any time. Giving them four at-bats every once in a while will help.”
McCutchen’s recent work impresses Russell
MILWAUKEE — Getting a spot start in place of Jeff Karstens on Wednesday, right-hander Daniel McCutchen impressed as he tossed six shutout innings in the Pirates’ 5-2 victory over the Cardinals at PNC Park.
His manager was equally impressed by McCutchen’s performance in relief leading up to the starting opportunity.
“I think he showed a lot more confidence out of the bullpen,” Russell said. “I thought he threw the ball pretty well. I think it kind of helped set up his start.”
McCutchen’s start was his first since July 31, also against the Cardinals. In that start, which was in St. Louis, McCutchen went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits. McCutchen struck out just one batter while walking six as he took the loss.
In eight starts this season, McCutchen owns a 6.92 ERA — giving up 30 earned runs over 39 innings of work on his way to a 2-5 record with 20 walks and 20 strikeouts. As a reliever, McCutchen has an impressive 1.74 ERA — allowing just two runs on 11 hits over 10 1/3 innings of work in nine appearances.
“He was more aggressive. He was hitting his spots. I don’t think he was worried how deep he was going to go in the game,” Russell said. “I think he was just out there one hitter at a time, one inning at a time. I think that’s a good lesson that he learned from the bullpen — and if he does start again, it’s something he can draw onto.
“It is one pitch at a time. Execute this pitch, go to the next pitch.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Dodgers earn first sweep since June
MILWAUKEE — No Manny? No problem for the Dodgers.
With Manny Ramirez rumored to be the subject of trade discusions, the Dodgers showed Thursday they could put up plenty of offense without him and shut down their opponents’ bats as the 12-time All-Star took a scheduled off-day for the day game after a night game.
With a 7-1 victory Thursday over the Brewers at Miller Park, the Dodgers completed the sweep, giving them three straight wins for the first time since Aug. 7-10, when the Dodgers won their last two against the Nationals and the series opener in Philadelphia.
The sweep is the Dodgers’ first since they took all three games from the Giants in San Francisco on June 28-30.
“We haven’t done this for a while,” said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. “We certainly need more than this, but you can’t go win five in a row unless you win three in a row. I thought we played these three games very well and we had some key outs that we got out of the bullpen and some key two-out hits. We did a lot of things well this week.
“Hopefully we can build on this.”
While the six-run margin of victory looks like an easy win in the box score, the way the Dodgers got there was anything but. After taking a 1-0 lead in the first and letting the Brewers tie it back up in the fourth on a Prince Fielder home run, things got interesting in the middle innings.
With a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Torre used three pitchers for three outs for a second consecutive game. Starter Carlos Monasterios seemed to lose his command in the inning, walking Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo and hitting Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart.
“I don’t think I lost that much control,” Monasterios said through an interpreter. “But since I hit that hitter, I lost a little bit of rhythm and that’s what happened.”
Torre, who said he thought Monasterios tried to rush through the fifth inning to put himself in line for the win, brought in Ronald Belisario with the bases loaded. Belisario (2-1) retired Ryan Braun for the third straight game, needing just four pitches — all fastballs — to strike out Braun and earn his second win of the season.
George Sherrill then entered to face Fielder, who grounded into a forceout to get the Dodgers out of the jam.
With Belisario matching up against Braun and Sherrill against Fielder, the fifth inning resembled the ninth inning of Wednesday night’s 5-4 win, when Torre used Belisario, Sherrill and Octavio Dotel to close out the game.
“That’s why they’re a good team,” Fielder said. “It’s a good move, bringing tough guys out of the bullpen to kind of shut it down.”
The move did appear to shut the Brewers down. Over the final four innings, the Dodgers’ bullpen allowed just one baserunner — catcher Jonathan Lucroy walked to lead off the seventh. For the game, the Dodgers gave up just two hits, which matched a Milwaukee season.
Reliever Kenley Jansen had a lot to do with that, as he was impressive over the sixth and seventh innings, retiring six of seven batters faced. He did not allow a hit while striking out four batters and walking one.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Andre Ethier was called out on strikes to lead off the inning and was later ejected by home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson following a Matt Kemp strikeout.
“It was just a bad call, I thought it was a bad call,” Ethier said. “The pitch was repeated to the next batter, same exact pitch, I thought even a better pitch, and he called it a ball that time. So I was asking him from the dugout, ‘Are you sure about that?’
“He didn’t like it too much. Neither did I. One of us has the power to kick the other one out.”
Two batters later, Casey Blake blasted a two-run homer that gave the Dodgers some breathing room.
Finally, in the seventh, a walk followed by three straight singles and a fielding error by Lucroy resulted in three Dodgers runs, putting the game out of reach. Jansen got things started with a one out walk in his first career plate appearance and later scored his first career run on Ryan Theriot’s single.
“The seventh inning was not pretty,” Brewers manager Ken Macha said. “We didn’t back up home. We had a wild pitch. A ball got through Luc’s legs. That stuff happens from time to time, but you hope it would be at a minimum.”
When he wasn’t being asked about Ramirez this week, Torre talked a few times about the need for his players to ignore the standings, focus on themselves and string together a handful of wins as they look to get back in the playoff race.
After winning three in a row, the Dodgers cut their National League Wild Card deficit from eight games — following Sunday’s loss — to five games as of the end of Thursday’s win, with the Phillies having lost earlier and the Giants yet to play.
“We talked about winning series, and we didn’t do that for about a week and a half,” said catcher Brad Ausmus, who recorded his first three-hit game since July 27, 2008. “You’re talking about not only winning series, but mixing in a few series where you manage to sweep the team that you’re playing.
“We’re fortunate to come out of Milwaukee having done that.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Manny sits as trade reports swirl
MILWAUKEE — While he got Thursday’s day game off after being an integral part of the Dodgers’ win over the Brewers on Wednesday night, the waiver-wire trade rumors surrounding Manny Ramirez were out in full force once again.
The latest rumors concerning Ramirez involve the Dodgers, who finished a series sweep of the Brewers with a 7-1 win, having reportedly already discussed a potential trade with the Chicago White Sox, even though he has yet to clear waivers. Additionally, USA Today reports that friends of Ramirez have said the 12-time All-Star has told them he would waive his no-trade clause to approve a trade to the White Sox.
According to a report from FOXSports.com, part of the deal with Ramirez waiving his no-trade clause to go to Chicago would require a one-year contract extension. In the same report, the Dodgers are said to have had trade talks about Ramirez with at least one other team, and may not even trade the left fielder if they continue to improve in the Nationals League Wild Card standings.
With all that, it would be easy for Ramirez and the Dodgers to be distracted by what’s going on off the field. Asked for his thoughts for a third straight day in Milwaukee, manager Joe Torre pointed to Ramirez’s past experiences.
“He’s been around,” Torre said. “The type of marquee player he is and the places he’s played, he’s certainly used to distractions. You don’t play in Boston without having to put yourself in a shell.”
Teams have until Friday to make a waiver claim on Ramirez, and then until Tuesday to work out a deal. If a team is rewarded the claim, Los Angeles has three options: It can try to work out a trade with just that team, reward Ramirez to the claiming team outright – meaning that club will absorb his remaining prorated salary – or pull him off waivers.
If Ramirez winds up clearing waivers, then the Dodgers can negotiate with anyone.
Clubs normally have two business days to work out a trade with a claiming team, but since Saturday and Sunday fall in the middle in this case, the Dodgers have two extra days – four total – to make a deal work if they choose to. That could explain why Los Angeles waited until Wednesday to put its slugger on waivers.
Tuesday is also the deadline for new players to be eligible for postseason rosters.
The waiver system goes in reverse order of the standings and starts with a player’s current league, meaning all the National League clubs have to pass on claiming Ramirez – starting with the last-place Pirates – before AL clubs have a shot.
The Rays have also been seen as a potential suitor, but since they have a better record than the White Sox, Chicago has first dibs.
A team that claims a player on waivers runs the risk of absorbing unwanted payroll. Ramirez is making $20 million in the final season of his contract, which comes out to a prorated salary of a little more than $4 million (though some of that money is reportedly deferred).
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Dodgers beat 8/26
Bullpen gives Torre matchup luxury
MILWAUKEE — When presented with his options for closing out the ninth inning in Wednesday’s 5-4 win over the Brewers, the most intriguing option for Dodgers manager Joe Torre came with the most risk.
Torre went with it anyway, matching up right-hander Ronald Belisario, lefty George Sherrill and right-hander Octavio Dotel with Brewers sluggers Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee.
“What really caused that, and why we had the idea to do it, was based on the fact that Prince Fielder was in the middle of it,” Torre said. “When you’re in a one-run game, you just have to figure out how to navigate your way through it.
With that plan, each of the three pitchers got their respective jobs done, retiring one batter. Dotel, in fact, needed just two pitches to get McGehee out for the save. It’s a plan that worked well, but one that could have spelled disaster for the Dodgers.
If any one of the three were unable to complete their assigned task, the Dodgers could have been headed for extra innings with a thin bullpen. The plan beyond McGehee, Torre said, was to keep Dotel in the game. If it had not been for Fielder batting between Braun and McGehee, the inning would have been Dotel’s with the Brewers’ right-handed heavy lineup.
“It worked out for us,” Torre said. “We just felt we needed to do that based on the fact that you can’t ignore what Fielder is capable of doing.”
The decision may have been easier for Torre considering the pedigree of the pitchers in his bullpen. As pointed out by Brewers manager Ken Macha after Wednesday’s game, nearly every guy in the Dodgers’ bullpen has closing experience.
Lefty Hong-Chih Kuo closed Tuesday’s series-opening victory. Jonathan Broxton, who pitched a clean eighth inning on Wednesday, had been the Dodgers’ closer until recently. Sherrill closed games in Baltimore before coming to Los Angeles. Dotel, in his 12th Major League season, has closed games for a number of other teams, including the Astros, Athletics and Pirates.
“We have nice pieces down there at the end of the game, there’s no question,” Torre said. “We get a [close game] situation in the last couple innings, we’ve got a lot of choices, especially now with George, you’ve got a left-handed choice aside from Kuo.
“Hopefully we’re in a position in a lot of games to have that mean something.”
Broxton impresses in eighth-inning role
MILWAUKEE — With the Dodgers’ current situation, manager Joe Torre is more concerned with winning games than assigning specific roles to his relief pitchers.
That being the case, he admitted there was a chance for Jonathan Broxton to find himself with a ninth-inning save opportunity in the near future. But that doesn’t mean he’s ready to change whom he calls his closer.
“I wouldn’t be afraid, after what I saw tonight, to put him out there,” Torre said after Wednesday’s game. “[Hong-Chih] Kuo is still our guy in that situation. But if Prince [Fielder] is coming up the inning before, you’re going to send Kuo out there against him.
“I think the situation will dictate it, but I was very comfortable watching Brox. After the 3-0, once he started throwing strikes, I thought he was very consistent with it.”
Broxton impressed in the eighth, retiring three straight batters with 13 total pitches. After opening the count 3-0 against pinch-hitter Chris Dickerson, nine of Broxton’s final 10 pitches were strikes as he got Dickerson to ground out, Rickie Weeks to fly out and struck out Corey Hart swinging.
“That’s the Brox that we’ll send out there in the ninth inning, that guy we saw [Wednesday night],” Torre said. “That’s liable to be in the next couple of days because that certainly was a good one for him.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Manny’s perfect night paces Dodgers
MILWAUKEE — If his start in left field on Wednesday turns out to be his last in a Dodgers uniform, Manny Ramirez certainly went out on a high note in a 5-4 win over the Brewers at Miller Park.
Before the club’s second game against the Brewers, the buzz surrounding the Dodgers involved the club having reportedly placed Ramirez on the waiver wire. In his third game back from the disabled list, Ramirez showed why he’s generated so much interest.
With a double into the right-field corner in the third inning, Ramirez snapped an 0-for-7 streak at the plate since returning from the DL.
“Manny had a real good night,” said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. “When he gets his timing, that’s where he starts, hitting the other way. Then he had the big base hit, the RBI base hit. That was huge for us too.
“It’s all about timing with him. I’m not really concerned about home run production. It’s just production period. Hopefully this will make him feel pretty good about himself.”
Ramirez certainly seemed to have figured out his struggles, putting together an impressive night as he alternated walks and doubles. Ramirez finished 2-for-2 with two walks, two doubles, an RBI and a run scored.
Most importantly, Ramirez’s two-out double in the sixth drove in second baseman Ryan Theriot for what proved to be the deciding run.
With a scheduled day off Thursday for Ramirez as the Dodgers play a day game after a night game, Wednesday’s performance may have come in Ramirez’s final start with the Dodgers. If Ramirez was indeed put on waivers Wednesday, and if he is claimed by another club, he could be traded as soon as Friday and no later than Tuesday.
As long as he’s still with the team, the Dodgers hope Ramirez’s bat can help them get back in the National League Wild Card race.
“Any time Manny’s in the lineup, you know the other team’s thinking about that’s one of the guys they don’t want to beat them,” the Dodgers’ James Loney said. “It definitely puts a force in our lineup.”
Ramirez was stranded after a first-inning walk and thrown out at the plate attempting to score from second after his third-inning double, ending the frame. In the fifth, he walked again with one out, and came around to score on a Loney single.
While Ramirez led the offense, right-handed starter Hiroki Kuroda — who also was reported Wednesday as having been placed on waivers — delivered a strong performance for his first win since July 22.
Kuroda, who admitted he didn’t have his best stuff, went seven innings for the fourth straight start, giving up four runs on seven hits while striking out six as he did not walk a batter.
“In these six games, there’s been many games where I’ve pitched really well, but I couldn’t get the win,” Kuroda said. “It’s a bit frustrating at times, but you’ve got to keep pitching tough and the results will come.”
After a giving up a big three-run inning to the Brewers in the fourth, Kuroda and the Dodgers’ bullpen combined to limit Milwaukee to just two baserunners the rest of the way.
While Kuroda went deep into the ballgame, the late innings continued to be an adventure for the Dodgers as Torre used four different relievers for the final two frames.
After Jonathan Broxton shut down the Brewers in order in the eighth, Torre turned to a three-man closer unit for the ninth, matching up Ronald Belisario, George Sherrill and Octavio Dotel for one batter each against Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee.
“Last night, the lefty [Hong-Chih Kuo] was a closer. Sherrill is a closer. Broxton is a closer. Dotel is a closer,” said Brewers manager Ken Macha. “Belisario, he probably has the best stuff out of all of them. So, if you don’t have the lead after six innings, you’re in trouble.”
Former Dodgers lefty Randy Wolf was roughed up in his first start against his former team, giving up four runs on seven hits over just five innings of work. Wolf (10-10) also walked three batters and recorded four strikeouts.
Andre Ethier put the Dodgers on the board first in the third inning with a solo home run, his 20th of the season. A three-run fifth — highlighted by Theriot and Casey Blake doubles — and a final run in the fifth gave the Dodgers their second straight win.
With the Giants having lost to the Reds in extra innings Wednesday afternoon, the Dodgers moved to within 5 1/2 games of the Giants and Phillies, who are tied for the lead in the National League Wild Card race. Having won the first two games in Milwaukee, the Dodgers secured at least a series victory over the Brewers and will look for the sweep on Thursday.
The series win is the Dodgers’ first on the road since taking two of three from the D-backs on July 2-4.
“My goal for this team right now is to get ourselves five or six in a row under our belt, so we can know when we go to the ballpark that we expect to win,” Torre said. “We haven’t been able to string it together.
“Hopefully winning two close games here gives us the confidence to win another one tomorrow.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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