The Dodgers needed a pivotal win on home soil against the Brewers. And Tarik Skubal did his part Sunday afternoon, giving up one earned run on seven hits over six innings.
But it wasn’t enough.
Milwaukee’s Logan Henderson quashed the Dodgers’ offense, giving up just three hits and one run over seven innings, to give the Brewers a 6-2 win in front of an announced crowd of 45,828.
The Dodgers (74-51) lost the four-game series 3-1 and also dropped the season series against the Brewers 4-3. The Dodgers trail Milwaukee (77-48) by three games for the best record in baseball.
Yet, the Dodgers aren’t sounding the alarm with 37 games left.
“You’re going against the best team in baseball right now, and you want to gain ground and try to get one of the first two spots,” Miguel Rojas said before the game. “I feel like our motivation is the bigger picture — the big goal — and that’s when Skubal comes into play.
“It’s not about winning this series. It’s about how well we’re going to be constructed for October and a deeper run in the playoffs. And we all know what it takes to be there and to get there and to play deep in October.”
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The Brewers struck first with two outs in the second inning after Luis Lara grounded into a bases-loaded fielder’s choice; Tommy Edman dropped an awkward flip to second base from Mookie Betts, resulting in an error and a 1-0 Milwaukee lead.
Max Muncy got to Henderson in the fourth by hitting a tying home run 370 feet to right field. In the next inning, Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers hit a go-ahead single to right off Skubal, scoring Jackson Chourio from second after his double.
The Brewers added two insurance runs in the seventh, as Bauers and Andrew Vaughn collected a pair of RBI knocks against left-handed reliever Alex Vesia. They got two more in the ninth after a second bases-loaded error by Edman came when he failed to field a choppy ground ball from David Hamilton, allowing Chourio and Lara to score.
The Dodgers had a chance to crawl closer with one out in the eighth, with Teoscar Hernández on third and Hunter Feduccia on first. But Shohei Ohtani grounded into a double play against Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby. Andy Pages hit a solo home run in the ninth.
“We know how good they are, but we also know how good we are,” said Dodgers reliever Brock Stewart before the game. “So it’s been fun to match up with them. But I think the real tell will be once we play in the playoffs because they swept us during the regular season last year and then we got them in the playoffs.
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“You never really know until playoff time, [when] there are no empty seats, the place is loud as hell, and the games just mean more. ... It’s fun to match up with them in the regular season … kind of a measuring stick of where we’re at and kind of what we need to do to be better.”
The results weren’t there for the Dodgers as they head into Colorado for a three-game series against the last-place Rockies.
But if there’s any silver lining, it’s that Skubal seems to be acclimating just fine in Los Angeles.
“He’s been great,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Skubal on Saturday. “He’s been very proactive, intentional, trying to learn his teammates, and he’s out on the bench all the time. He’s great in the weight room. I hear he’s great on the airplane. He just loves talking baseball [and] getting to know his guys.
“So, again, very intentional. He’s been fantastic.”
Injury updates
The Dodgers placed left-handed starter Justin Wrobleski on the 15-day injured list with left forearm inflammation and recalled right-handed reliever Kyle Hurt from triple-A Oklahoma City. Wrobleski, who has pitched a career-high 126⅓ innings this season, surrendered four runs and four hits in a loss against the Brewers on Saturday.
“I feel all right,” said Wrobleski, a first-time All-Star, about his season-long stamina after his last outing. “It’s just part of a long season ... just trying to lean on people that have done it. Just trying to take care of my body the best I can.”
Wrobleski has struggled as of late, giving up 11 home runs over his past four starts.
Stewart, who was placed on the 15-day IL with right shoulder discomfort on July 31, said he’ll join the Dodgers on their upcoming road trip to Colorado and is hopeful he’ll be activated soon.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.