Brent Suter File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Baseball’s best team didn’t dominate with their bats on Wednesday night, but the Los Angeles Dodgers did take advantage of Brent Suter’s early wildness to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 in their National League Wildcard series opener in Los Angeles.
Corey Seager homered in the win, but the Dodgers jumped out in the first inning by hardly having to swing the bat. After a Mookie Betts double to start, Brent Suter proceeded to walk-in a pair of runs. Suter had to start for the Brewers with the teams top starter (Corbin Burnes) and top reliever (Devin Williams) both sidelined by injury.
Suter needed 32 pitches to get out of the first inning and ended up working just 1 2/3 innings before manager Craig Counsell was forced to go to his bullpen. Suter left after allowing three runs and three hits, with five walks in.
The Dodgers third run came off of Suter in the second when Chris Taylor doubled and scored on Betts’ second double of the game. The Brewers prevented further damage when Ryan Braun tracked down Will Smith’s drive to the wall in right. Braun winced when he hit the ball and left in the fifth inning with what was described as mid-back discomfort.
After the dust settled, the Brewers bullpen gave Craig Counsell some solid work, retiring 10 straight Dodgers during one stretch.
Orlando Arcia got the Brewers to within a run with a two-run homer in the fourth. Avisail Garcia had three hits and Christian Yelich added two, but the Brewers struck out 15 times in the loss.
Corey Seager made it 4-2 Dodgers with a solo home run in the 7th inning to end the scoring.
The Brewers give the ball to right-hander Brandon Woodruff (3-5, 3.05) in a must-win game two on Thursday night. Clayton Kershaw (6-2, 2.16) pitches for the Dodgers. Kershaw has a career postseason record of 9-11 with a 4.43 ERA.