MILWAUKEE — For a moment, it looked as if the Dodgers’ crumbling performance against the Brewers had gone from bad to worse.
In the eighth inning of what would become a 5-1 loss, a 95.5-mph sinker from Brewers left-handed reliever Aaron Ashby struck Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy on the right wrist.
Muncy shouted and cradled the injury as he hopped out of the box.
“It hurt really, really bad,” he said after initial X-rays came back negative. “In that moment, you’re trying to figure out what you can feel. Trying to assess how bad you think it is.
The Dodgers’ Max Muncy leaves the game after being hit by a pitch during the eighth inning against the Brewers at American Family Field on Friday in Milwaukee.
(Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)
“For me, I think we skipped the worst, because I’ve been hit in that spot before, and I’ve broken that spot before. The biggest thing I always took with me from that was just the nauseous feeling that you get, and I didn’t quite have that tonight. So that’s why I’m feeling pretty optimistic about it.”
That optimism, however, had a thread of caution woven through it.
“We’ve just got to monitor the next couple days,” Muncy said. “Typically, especially in that area, the X-rays never come back positive immediately. It kind of forms a little bit. But I’m pretty sure it hit half my wrist pad and then half my wrist. … So I think me deciding to wear that wrist guard the last couple of years, it might have saved my wrist, at least tonight.”
Utility player Santiago Espinal, who replaced Muncy as a pinch runner in the eighth inning, is penciled in to play third on Saturday, manager Dave Roberts said.
“He’ll be down for the next couple days, just to make sure we get that swelling out,” Roberts said of Muncy. “But I think right now we’re breathing a sigh of relief.”
The Dodgers are also unlikely to rush back Muncy. And they have infield reinforcements on the way. Utility man Kiké Hernández (left elbow surgery recovery), who had been on a rehab assignment since May 5, is eligible to return from the IL as early as Sunday.
“These things happen,” Muncy said. “Guys miss up and in. It’s never on purpose. It just happens.”
Something about Milwaukee during the regular season seems to disagree with the Dodgers.
They began this road trip with a pair of statement series, sweeping the Angels and edging out the Padres. But their momentum came to a grinding halt when they fell 5-1 to the Brewers on Friday at American Family Field.
The loss brought back memories of last year, when the Brewers swept the regular-season series, before the Dodgers swept them in the National League Championship Series.
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Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski reacts after giving up runs during the first inning against the Brewers Friday in Milwaukee.
(Jeffrey Phelps/AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
“I don’t think people appreciate how well this team plays baseball,” Roberts said before the game. “There’s not a lot of fanfare as far as name recognition. But the way [Brewers manager] Pat Murphy gets these guys to play, it’s a fun brand of baseball.
“They don’t strike out much. They put the ball in play. They bunt, they hit and run, they steal bases, they can pitch. It’s a good matchup. Last year, during the regular season, we couldn’t beat these guys once, so I expect us to play better baseball this year.”
That brand of baseball was a bit of a nightmare for Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski in the first inning. The Brewers batted around en route to a five-run rally. Five of their six hits were singles. The one exception was William Contreras’ three-run homer.
“It was a cutter, and he ambushed it,” Wrobleski said. “Hindsight is 20-20; probably not a great spot for it. He got it, credit to him.”
The next inning, they tacked on another run when Contreras singled and then scored when Andrew Vaughn’s double ricocheted off the wall in the right-field gap.
Wrobleski turned around his outing by blanking the Brewers for the next three innings, but the deficit proved to be too steep for the Dodgers to overcome.
Wrobleski has only given up more than two runs in one other start this season. That one also featured one high-scoring inning and a mid-game adjustment.
“I think that the body of work has been fine, I really do,” Roberts said. “And it was good to see, in that third inning, I thought his stuff actually crept up. The fastball got more lifey and got more swing and miss, but certainly the damage was done.”
The Dodgers’ offense, in contrast to the Brewers’, didn’t record a hit off Brewers starter Logan Henderson until the fourth inning. He faced the minimum through the first three — a leadoff walk erased when Shohei Ohtani was caught stealing. And by the time he exited after five innings, he’d only yielded two hits and three walks in all.
The Dodgers needed help from the Brewers’ defense to finally put a run on the board. Third baseman Luis Rengifo mishandled a ground ball to let Teoscar Hernández reach base in the seventh inning. A single from Dalton Rushing and a fly out from Miguel Rojas moved him to third. Ohtani delivered the sacrifice fly.
Chris Taylor retires
The MiLB transaction log Friday showed that former Dodger Chris Taylor has retired after a 12-year major-league career. He spent a decade with the Dodgers, was named the 2017 NLCS MVP, won two World Series, and was an All-Star in 2021.
Milwaukee was the site of Taylor’s run-saving catch in Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS.
“Man, worlds would have been different if he hadn’t made that play,” Roberts said. “He’s had a great career. He got everything out of his ability. He was a great teammate. I was fortunate enough to coach him.”