The jury’s still out on which team is the best in the National League.
The Dodgers’ series against the Brewers set up a chance for the home team to claw back onto the top of the National League standings. They could pull themselves the rest of the way out of a recent rut with a statement series against their competition for a No. 1 seed.
But after the Dodgers beat the Brewers 3-1 on Friday, the series stood tied at one game apiece, with two more to go.
The Dodgers (74-49) still trailed the Brewers (75-48), but the win trimmed the gap to one game.
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“It’s a big one,” manager Dave Roberts said of the series. “Obviously it’s a team that we’re chasing. But it’s not the end-all, be-all regardless of how this series plays out. But it’s something that we’ve looked forward to. It’s a really good team over there.”
It’s a matchup between two teams with opposing identities. The Dodgers are the large-market powerhouse loaded with star power seeking their third straight World Series trophy.
The Brewers are the small-market overachievers, who somehow have retained their little-engine-that-could persona despite owning the best regular-season record in baseball last year.
On Friday, the Dodgers pulled ahead by flexing their power-hitting ability — the main hole in the fundamentally sound Brewers’ game.
The Brewers tied the score in the fifth inning, manufacturing a run with a leadoff double, bunt single and sacrifice fly from the bottom of the order. That was the only run Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up in six innings — holding the Brewers to four hits while striking out nine.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Dodgers recorded their first extra-base hit off Brewers starter Robert Gasser.
Andy Pages already singled in each of his first two at-bats. With two outs in the fifth, he lifted a sweeper into the seats beyond the left-field corner to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.
The next inning, Tommy Edman expanded that advantage with a solo homer of his own off Gasser.
For the second straight night, the Dodgers had a two-run lead going into the seventh. On Thursday, closer Edwin Díaz blew a save opportunity.
On Friday, history did not repeat itself. But it wasn’t a comfortable ninth inning for Díaz, either.
After Dodgers relievers Evan Phillips and Tanner Scott threw a pair of scoreless innings, Dodger Stadium was plunged into darkness before Timmy Trumpet’s “Narco” sounded over the speakers to a light show.
Díaz took the mound and hit Andrew Vaughn with his seventh pitch, generating a smattering of boos.
Díaz bounced back by striking out Christian Yelich. But then he walked William Contreras.
Díaz gave up a rocketed ground ball to Luis Lara, but Edman, manning second base, went to a knee to snag it for the second out of the inning. Then Díaz walked David Hamilton to load the bases.
Díaz induced Joey Ortiz to ground out to Mookie Betts at shortstop to end the game.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.