The Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the final game of a four-game series to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, 6-2, giving Milwaukee a 3-1 series victory on the road. The loss extended a troubling stretch for one of baseball's most expensive rosters.
Tarik Skubal, making his third start since joining the Dodgers from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline, allowed two runs on seven hits over six innings. He struck out seven and threw 109 pitches but also walked two and was not helped by two defensive errors behind him. He left the game still in line for a win, trailing 2-1, but the Dodgers' offense went silent after he exited, according to Yahoo Sports.
Brewers starter Logan Henderson outpitched Skubal and looked dominant in doing so. Henderson allowed just three hits and one walk over seven innings while striking out six. A solo home run by Max Muncy in the fourth inning was the only run he surrendered all day.
Skubal still has not won a game in a Dodgers uniform. He has now taken two losses in three starts with his new team and has yet to deliver a breakout performance since the trade.
After Skubal left, the Brewers' bullpen problems became the Dodgers' bullpen problems. Milwaukee scored two runs in the seventh and added two more in the ninth to turn a tight game into a blowout. The Dodgers' best chance to rally came in the eighth inning, with runners on the corners and one out, down 4-1. Shohei Ohtani hit into an inning-ending double play.
Andy Pages hit a solo home run in the ninth, but it came with the outcome already decided. The Dodgers finished the game with six total hits, with both of their runs coming on solo shots.
The series loss is part of a broader offensive collapse that manager Dave Roberts addressed directly after the game. The Dodgers have gone 5-11 since July 31. Roberts did not soften his assessment.
"This has been cumulative," Roberts told reporters in his postgame news conference. "It's been a long time since we've been consistent offensively. … This has been four, five, six weeks of below-average production from our offense. I just think that we haven't played clean baseball for q"
Saturday's game followed a similar pattern. Jacob Misiorowski allowed five hits and one run across six innings in a 4-1 Brewers win, giving Milwaukee back-to-back dominant starting pitching performances to close out the series.
The Brewers entered the series as the NL's best team and left Los Angeles having taken three of four games. The Dodgers return home with a losing record over the past seven weeks and an offense that has not yet found a consistent answer.
