For the first time in a month, the Milwaukee Brewers were on the wrong end of a series decision.
With a 5-1 defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 24 in front of 40.973 at American Family Field, the Brewers suffered their first series defeat since April 24-26 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, also at home.
Since then, the Brewers went 6-0-1 in series, defeating some of the top clubs in baseball to regain first place in the National League Central Division.
But against the best team in baseball, they faltered in the final two games.
BOX SCORE: Dodgers 5, Brewers 1
Brandon Sproat worked in and out of traffic early but eventually caved in during a four-run fifth that accounted for the difference.
The Brewers offense, meanwhile, mustered up nothing after a second-inning tally.
More Yamamoto dominance in Milwaukee
You wouldn’t be alone if you had flashbacks to Game 2 of the NLCS watching Yoshinobu Yamamoto deal.
While it wasn’t quite the complete game masterpiece the Dodgers righty hurled last October in Milwaukee, it had many of the same traits. Yamamoto allowed only one run in the second on a hit batsman, single and RBI fielder’s choice, then settled in for seven innings of domination.
Milwaukee put two runners in scoring position after the second and went without an extra-base hit as he cruised the rest of the afternoon. Yamamoto only struck out three, but didn’t need much swing-and-miss to to the job because of his ability to keep the Brewers off-balanced and the ball on the ground.
Fifth inning disaster for Sproat and Drohan
Sproat played with fire for four innings and got away with nothing more than a stray ember leaving a slight mark.
That didn’t last into the fifth. Sproat allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach, sparking a four-run rally to make it a 5-1 lead for Los Angeles.
After Sproat’s day ended with a walk to Freddie Freeman, the right-hander’s fourth of the afternoon, Kyle Tucker greeted Shane Drohan with a two-run triple down the right field line.
On the next pitch, Andy Pages sent a towering fly to the bleachers in left for his 11th home run of the season, making it 5-1.
Brandon Sproat escapes twice, but not a third time
Sproat worked out of a precarious situation in each of the first two innings to keep the Dodgers off the board.
In the first, he walked Shohei Ohtani on four pitches and allowed a two-out double to Kyle Tucker, but a running grab by Garrett Mitchell on an Andy Pages sinking liner for the third out brought th threat to an end.
Sproat then wiggled out of consecutive walks to open the second by striking out Hyeseong Kim and Miguel Rojas before it was Jackson Chourio’s turn to make a snag at full sprint in a game to end the inning.
The third time was the charm for Los Angeles, even if the number hung on the board was merely one when it could have been crooked. Sproat, following an inexcusable two-out plunking of Miguel Rojas to load the bases, uncorked a wild pitch to bring home the tying run with Ohtani up.
But for the second time in three innings, Sproat got the Dodgers designated hitter for the third out with two men on base to keep the score at 1-1.
Sproat was at 77 pitches through four innings, having walked three and allowed three hits while also punching out seven.
Brewers schedule and probable pitchers
Brewers vs Cardinals, May 25, 1:10 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Jacob Misiorowski (4-2, 1.89) vs. St. Louis LHP Matthew Liberatore (2-2, 4.70) . TV – Brewers TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs Cardinals, May 26, 6:40 p.m.: Milwaukee LHP Kyle Harrison (5-1, 1.77) vs. St. Louis RHP Michael McGreevy (3-3, 2.40) . TV – Brewers TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs Cardinals, May 27, 1:10 p.m.: Milwaukee TBA vs. St. Louis RHP Dustin May (3-5, 5.00) . TV – Brewers TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Dodgers 5, Brewers 1: Brandon Sproat plays with fire, gets burned
Reporting by Curt Hogg, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
