Freddy Peralta surrenders two more home runs in 5-2 loss to Dodgers

William Contreras provides only two Brewers runs

Box Score

With division leaders meeting in Milwaukee, it’s a critical week for the Brewers. The week didn’t start out well for them, though. Freddy Peralta allowed two more home runs, which was more than enough for the Dodgers to defeat the Brewers, 5-2.

The first inning went by cleanly for both starting pitchers. The Dodgers went down in order in the first, and the Brewers followed suit in their half of the inning. Will Smith of the Dodgers walked for their first baserunner, but was left on base.

In the bottom of the second, the Brewers put together their first scoring chance. William Contreras led off the inning with a double, then Willy Adames grounded out. Gary Sánchez walked to put a second runner on base. With Rhys Hoskins at the plate, the Brewers went for the contact play to try to move the runners up. However, Hoskins struck out and Contreras was caught at third easily, ending the inning.

The Dodgers went for some small ball on their side in the top of the third. Enrique Hernández started off the inning with a single and moved up to second on a Kevin Kiermaier sacrifice bunt. Hernández move up to third for free on a Peralta wild pitch. All of that didn’t mean too much though, as Mookie Betts homered to put the Dodgers up 2-0.

Peralta had to work around another jam in the fourth inning, but kept the Dodgers off the board. In the fifth, Kiermaier singled to lead off the inning, and Shohei Ohtani followed that with a home run to increase the Dodgers lead to 4-0.

Adames led off the bottom of the fifth with a single, and moved up to second on a balk to put a runner in scoring position with no outs. Hoskins walked as well to put a second runner on base. However, they were left there with no real chance to score. Sánchez popped out, Sal Frelick flew out, and Joey Ortiz struck out swinging.

Leading off the sixth, Gavin Lux hit a fly ball to deep center field that had a chance of leaving the park, or at least would have given him an extra-base hit. However, Garrett Mitchell timed his jump well and caught it, keeping Lux off base. That helped secure a 1-2-3 inning for Peralta, who finished out his day with six innings pitched. Home runs continued to plague him as he allowed two more in the start, accounting for all four of the runs he allowed. He’s now allowed 21 home runs this season, with seven of those coming in his last four starts. Control was not great for Peralta either, who allowed two walks and struck out just four.

Meanwhile, the Brewers finally got Clayton Kershaw out of the game in the sixth. Jackson Chourio hit a one-out single, and after Mitchell struck out, the Dodgers went to Joe Kelly. Contreras took advantage right away, hitting a home run to cut the Dodgers lead to 4-2.

Bryan Hudson made his return for the Brewers in the top of the seventh, entering in relief of Peralta. It wasn’t a good day for him, though. He did get two outs to start the inning, but then walked Ohtani, who stole second. Betts brought in Ohtani with a single, giving the Dodgers a run back at 5-2.

The seventh went by with no threats from the Brewers as Alex Vesia struck out the side. Bryse Wilson repeated the feat in the top of the eighth for the Brewers, striking out the Dodgers in order. Contreras drew a walk in the bottom of the inning, but nothing came of that either.

The ninth went by without any more offense. Wilson finished out the ninth for the Brewers, and Daniel Hudson finished the game for the Dodgers. The end result was a second straight loss for the Brewers.

Contreras and Adames had two-hit days for the Brewers, with Contreras driving in both runs. The team had their chances to score in this game, but did not take advantage. They went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left six on base.

Game two will happen at the same time tomorrow night. Gavin Stone faces Colin Rea, with first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. The game will be on Bally Sports Wisconsin and TBS.