{"id":329363,"date":"2026-05-23T13:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T13:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/329363\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T13:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T13:06:14","slug":"dodgers-lose-to-brewers-avoid-bigger-max-munch-injury-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/329363\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers lose to Brewers, avoid bigger Max Munch injury problem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MILWAUKEE\u00a0\u2014\u00a0For a moment, it looked as if the Dodgers<\/a>\u2019 crumbling performance against the Brewers had gone from bad to worse.<\/p>\n

In the eighth inning of what would become a 5-1 loss<\/a>, a 95.5-mph sinker from Brewers left-handed reliever Aaron Ashby struck Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy<\/a> on the right wrist.<\/p>\n

Muncy shouted and cradled the injury as he hopped out of the box.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurt really, really bad,\u201d he said after initial X-rays came back negative. \u201cIn that moment, you\u2019re trying to figure out what you can feel. Trying to assess how bad you think it is.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Dodgers\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

(Patrick McDermott \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I think we skipped the worst, because I\u2019ve been hit in that spot before, and I\u2019ve 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\u2019t quite have that tonight. So that\u2019s why I\u2019m feeling pretty optimistic about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That optimism, however, had a thread of caution woven through it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just got to monitor the next couple days,\u201d Muncy said. \u201cTypically, especially in that area, the X-rays never come back positive immediately. It kind of forms a little bit. But I\u2019m pretty sure it hit half my wrist pad and then half my wrist. \u2026 So I think me deciding to wear that wrist guard the last couple of years, it might have saved my wrist, at least tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Utility player Santiago Espinal<\/a>, who replaced Muncy as a pinch runner in the eighth inning, is penciled in to play third on Saturday, manager Dave Roberts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be down for the next couple days, just to make sure we get that swelling out,\u201d Roberts said of Muncy. \u201cBut I think right now we\u2019re breathing a sigh of relief.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers are also unlikely to rush back Muncy. And they have infield reinforcements on the way. Utility man Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> (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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese things happen,\u201d Muncy said. \u201cGuys miss up and in. It\u2019s never on purpose. It just happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Something about Milwaukee during the regular season seems to disagree with the Dodgers.<\/p>\n

They began this road trip with a pair of statement series, sweeping the Angels<\/a> and edging out the Padres<\/a>. But their momentum came to a grinding halt when they fell 5-1 to the Brewers on Friday at American Family Field.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.
.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski reacts after giving up runs during the first inning against the Brewers Friday in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

(Jeffrey Phelps\/AP Photo\/Jeffrey Phelps)<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think people appreciate how well this team plays baseball,\u201d Roberts<\/a> said before the game. \u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of fanfare as far as name recognition. But the way [Brewers manager] Pat Murphy gets these guys to play, it\u2019s a fun brand of baseball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t strike out much. They put the ball in play. They bunt, they hit and run, they steal bases, they can pitch. It\u2019s a good matchup. Last year, during the regular season, we couldn\u2019t beat these guys once, so I expect us to play better baseball this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

That brand of baseball was a bit of a nightmare for Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski<\/a> 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\u2019 three-run homer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a cutter, and he ambushed it,\u201d Wrobleski said. \u201cHindsight is 20-20; probably not a great spot for it. He got it, credit to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next inning, they tacked on another run when Contreras singled and then scored when Andrew Vaughn\u2019s double ricocheted off the wall in the right-field gap.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the body of work has been fine, I really do,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers\u2019 offense, in contrast to the Brewers\u2019, didn\u2019t record a hit off Brewers starter Logan Henderson until the fourth inning. He faced the minimum through the first three \u2014 a leadoff walk erased when Shohei Ohtani<\/a> was caught stealing. And by the time he exited after five innings, he\u2019d only yielded two hits and three walks in all.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers needed help from the Brewers\u2019 defense to finally put a run on the board. Third baseman Luis Rengifo mishandled a ground ball to let Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> reach base in the seventh inning. A single from Dalton Rushing<\/a> and a fly out from Miguel Rojas<\/a> moved him to third. Ohtani delivered the sacrifice fly.<\/p>\n

Chris Taylor retires<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee was the site of Taylor\u2019s run-saving catch in Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, worlds would have been different if he hadn\u2019t made that play,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cHe\u2019s had a great career. He got everything out of his ability. He was a great teammate. I was fortunate enough to coach him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE\u00a0\u2014\u00a0For a moment, it looked as if the Dodgers\u2019 crumbling performance against the Brewers had gone from bad…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[2135,2136,4117,426,136771,1049,4468,48,52,51,7036,47,50,49,4123,20790,2504,2668,134279,422,136534],"class_list":["post-329363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-baseball","tag-brewer","tag-brewers","tag-dodgers","tag-early-deficit","tag-hit","tag-inning","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-last-year","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-max-muncy","tag-pair","tag-regular-season","tag-run","tag-series-opener","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-william-contreras"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}