Devin Williams got Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman out one after another in the ninth inning to secure the Milwaukee Brewers’ 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday. This victory ended the Dodgers’ five-game winning streak.
Williams only needed seven pitches to retire these three MVP-caliber players and achieve his second save in as many tries. Ohtani hit a fly ball to left field, Betts struck out, and Freeman hit a grounder to second base.
“I don’t know if there’s a better 1-2-3 in the league,” Williams said. “It was definitely a good test. I passed it today. I might have to do it again tomorrow.”
The Brewers had just four hits but took advantage of three errors by the Dodgers to break their three-game losing streak. Milwaukee is the only team in the major leagues that hasn’t lost four games in a row this season.
“We competed,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “That’s the Brewers you guys have seen all year.”
The Dodgers’ biggest mistake happened in the seventh inning when Betts mishandled a ball in right field, allowing Joey Ortiz to score the go-ahead run from Jackson Chourio’s single.
“I know that guy (Ortiz) is fast,” Betts said. “I was trying to make a play. I just missed it.”
Ortiz started the seventh by getting hit by a pitch from Brent Honeywell (0-1). After Ortiz moved to second on Brice Turang’s sacrifice bunt, Chourio hit a single to shallow right field.
When the ball got past Betts, Ortiz ran all the way home, and Chourio moved to second base. Chourio didn’t get credited with an RBI on the play.
The Dodgers had tied the game in the top of the seventh when Miguel Rojas hit a two-out, pinch-hit RBI single off Jared Koenig (9-3).
Dodgers starter Walker Buehler returned from the injured list and allowed four runs – one earned – over 3 1/3 innings after missing almost two months with right hip inflammation. He struck out three, gave up three hits, and issued four walks.
Los Angeles lost despite leading 3-0 after the first inning.
Frankie Montas walked Teoscar Hernández with the bases loaded, which allowed Ohtani to score. Ohtani had reached base earlier in the inning due to Ortiz’s error. Later, Betts scored on a sacrifice fly by Kiké Hernández, and Freeman came in on a two-out double by Kevin Kiermaier.
Montas bounced back from a rough start and did not give up any more runs in his five innings. He struck out six batters and allowed five hits, three walks, and three unearned runs.
Buehler started the bottom of the first by walking the bases loaded, but the Brewers couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity.
Turang tried to score from third base on a fly ball to center field by William Contreras, but Kiermaier threw him out. Willy Adames then struck out to end the inning.
Kiermaier’s throw to home plate was recorded at 99 mph, the fastest outfield assist by any Dodgers player since Statcast began tracking these speeds in 2015.
The Brewers tied the game with three runs in the second inning, which included a leadoff home run by Jake Bauers and an RBI triple from Turang.
Milwaukee took a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning but missed a chance to score more runs.
Kiké Hernández made an error on a grounder from Ortiz, which allowed Garrett Mitchell to score from third base. Turang then hit what appeared to be a double down the left-field line, which would have put runners on second and third with one out.
However, Ortiz slid into second base, took a step back, and did not touch the bag again before going to third base. After Dodgers manager Dave Roberts came out for a mound visit, Banda threw to second base for an appeal play, and Ortiz was called out.
Roberts mentioned after the game that Clayton Kershaw had seen Ortiz’s mistake from the bench and pointed it out, leading to the appeal.
Although Turang stayed on second base, his double was changed to a fielder’s choice. Chourio then grounded out to end the inning.
