MILWAUKEE _ Julio Urias took the mound at Miller Park on Thursday knowing his time as a starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers was coming to a temporary close. He was going to the bullpen after Thursday's outing against the Milwaukee Brewers. He could've gotten hammered and exited in the first inning. He could've thrown a perfect game. It didn't matter. Hyun-Jin Ryu is coming off the 10-day injured list Saturday to take Urias's spot in the rotation. Urias is going to the bullpen, where he was supposed to begin the season.
But the Dodgers still view Urias as a top-line starter in the long-term, beginning next season, and Urias offered a glimpse for their optimism in a 3-1 win, the Dodgers' fifth in a row.
The left-hander flummoxed the potent Brewers (12-8) over six scoreless innings. He didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning. It was the only hit he gave up. He walked two and compiled a career-high eight strikeouts. He elicited 17 swing-and-misses and bouts of frustration from an offense featuring the reigning National League Most Valuable Player.
For five innings, the Dodgers (13-8) squandered chances to score against right-hander Zach Davies. After going down in order in the first, they stranded at least one runner in each of the next four. Three runners were in scoring position. They were left there. Their effort did, however, hike Davies's pitch count to 97 through. That prompted his departure and a loud Dodgers surge opposite right-hander Matt Albers in the sixth.
Cody Bellinger initiated the scoring by swatting a 110.3-mph line drive over the right-field wall for a solo home run, his 10th of the season. A.J. Pollock singled and Max Muncy followed with a 109.2-mph liner over the wall in left-center field to give the Dodgers an instant three-run lead.
The keys were then given to the Dodgers bullpen and Caleb Ferguson recorded a perfect seventh inning before trouble brewed in the eighth. After Hernan Perez singled and stole second base, Lorenzo Cain lined a base hit to left field off Joe Kelly. Alex Verdugo, a highly regarded pitching prospect in high school, was in left field after pinch-hitting the previous inning. Brewers third base coach Ed Sedar decided to test Verdugo's left arm and waved Perez home. Verdugo threw him out with a 98.4-mph strike on one hop and swaggered off the field, gold chains bouncing on his chest, to a delighted Dodgers dugout.
Kenley Jansen was summoned to pitch the ninth, which began with Christian Yelich crushing a ball to the batter's eye for his 10th home run to lead off the inning. Jansen avoided further damage to notch his sixth save.
The Dodgers' plan was for the 22-year-old Urias to break spring training as a reliever, but injuries to Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill in spring training forced the Dodgers to insert Urias in the rotation. Ryu's strained left groin _ suffered on April 8 _ extended Urias' stay.
The Dodgers decided utilizing Urias as a reliever in the majors is the best way to limit his workload less than two years after major shoulder surgery while using his innings to help the team win. If all goes as planned, the Dodgers will, as manager Dave Roberts has described it, "unleash" Urias late in the season, perhaps as a starter.
For now, Roberts said Urias will become, essentially, a long reliever. The manager said Urias will pitch multiple innings _ he emphasized he "can't even see him going an inning" _ and could occasionally finish games.
"He's a guy that I trust in leverage," Roberts said.
Barring another injury in the rotation, Ross Stripling will join Urias in the bullpen once Hill is activated from the injured list. That will likely happen the following weekend, giving the Dodgers two capable arms to bolster their bullpen.
Before all that, Urias had a start to make after surrendering nine runs (eight earned) in 8 2/3 innings in his previous two outings. He didn't expend the latitude. Pitching at Miller Park for the first time since a cameo as a reliever in last year's National League Championship Series, Urias worked around walks in the first and third innings to keep the Brewers hitless until Orlando Arcia stepped to the plate with two out in the fifth. Arcia cracked a single on the ninth pitch of the clash to cease Urias' no-hit bid. Urias struck out pinch-hitter Eric Thames on a changeup to end the inning.
Urias emerged for the sixth and needed nine pitches to retire the side and conclude his night. He threw 91 pitches. He'll throw his next pitch as a reliever.
