Bobby Miller provides strong start as Dodgers break it open late to beat Brewers
Fifty-eight days ago, the Dodgers were in third place in their division. They were in the midst of a month-long skid. And they were only a game clear of the playoff cut line, clinging to the National League’s final wild-card position.
So no, manager Dave Roberts acknowledged Tuesday, not even he could have imagined his team surging so quickly, so dominantly and (to many external on-lookers, at least) so unexpectedly to their current place in the standings.
With a 6-2 defeat of the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers continued to cement their place atop the National League West — and in the middle of the World Series picture — by winning their ninth-straight game and 13th of 14 so far in August.
They got a strong start from rookie Bobby Miller, who gave up a run in the first inning but finished his night with 18 straight outs.
They got a big inning from their lineup, which busted open a 1-1 tie with five runs in the bottom of the sixth.
And they continued to cruise past the rest of the division, staying nine games clear of the second-place San Francisco Giants with only 44 games left on the schedule.
The Dodgers’ president of baseball operations once again has made trade deadline deals that set the team up for success.
“If you look back four or five weeks ago, could we have envisioned this situation?” Roberts asked rhetorically. “I think we could have saw ourselves playing like this. But to be in this position, it takes other teams not playing well, so it is what it is. I’m not gonna apologize for it.”
Instead, Roberts spent Tuesday afternoon warning against complacency, confident his veteran club could handle their sudden first-place cushion.
“I just want to try to stress continuing to win baseball games,” Roberts said. “We’ll see where we’re at once we get to the postseason.”
And if Tuesday was any indication, reaching October should be a breeze.
Even against a fellow first-place Milwaukee team, the Dodgers hardly looked strained in their series-opener at Chavez Ravine, overcoming their early 1-0 deficit thanks to the bottom of their lineup.
In the fifth inning, the Dodgers (72-46) tied the game after David Peralta hit a leadoff single, Jason Hewyard lined a double off the wall and Miguel Rojas hit a run-scoring groundout.
In the bottom of the sixth, their damage was much more pronounced.
Playing his first game in nine days because of a groin issue, J.D. Martinez thumped an RBI double off the wall in left center to put the Dodgers in front. Pinch-hitter Kiké Hernández followed with a two-run single up the middle, giving him 10 RBIs in just 17 games with the Dodgers this season. Rojas and Mookie Betts piled on later in the inning, hitting back to back RBI singles to put the contest out of reach.
It hardly mattered that Freddie Freeman and Will Smith combined to go 0 for eight in rare off-nights in the lineup’s Nos. 2 and 3 spot. The six hitters below them combined for eight of the Dodgers 10 hits and all but one of their RBIs.
“The guys in the middle to the bottom of the order are really starting to understand their roles to make our lineup go,” Roberts said.
Miller, meanwhile, might have had the best individual performance.
The right-hander put himself in trouble in the first inning. Christian Yelich tagged him with a leadoff single. William Contreras followed with a full-count walk. Then, Carlos Santana nearly hit a three-run homer, watching a deep fly ball die at the warning track.
After that, however, the 24-year-old phenom picked up where he’d left off in a career-long start against Arizona last week, ruthlessly mowing through the Brewers (65-55) without letting another batter reach base.
“After that [first] inning, you just gotta erase that and focus on getting the first guy every inning,” Miller said. “When I get that first guy out each inning, things seem to go a lot better.”
Miller and Roberts cited the pitcher’s improved fastball command — one of his biggest question marks as a top prospect — as a key to his outing.
Both felt he had more in the tank, too, after throwing only 74 pitchers — though Roberts explained postgame that the club will be careful managing Miller’s workload the rest of the season (Miller is already nearing his career high of 112 innings pitched set last year).
The Dodgers have won 12 of 13 games this month to build a commanding lead in their division. Clayton Kershaw’s return has helped settle the rotation.
“He’s throwing the ball well and learning every time out there, so … we want to keep him going and make his starts,” Roberts said, noting the club has decided against giving the rookie an extended period of rest. “But when we get an opportunity to shorten a little bit, let’s do it. It’s helpful that Bobby understands that.”
Maybe things would be different if the Dodgers — who turned to long reliever Ryan Yarbrough for the final nine outs — were in more of a dogfight in the division, or trying to track down first place as they did for much of the first half of the season.
Now, though, they are in more familiar territory. Leading the NL West. Nursing a healthy cushion in the playoff race. And, slowly but surely, gearing up for October, safe to start peeking ahead to a month and a half away.
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