MILWAUKEE — Even when he struck out Andrew McCutchen, it didn’t work out well for Andrew Heaney.
McCutchen hit two home runs off the Dodgers left-hander Thursday afternoon then reached base on a third-strike passed ball, extending the fifth inning long enough for Hunter Renfroe to hit a two-run homer off Heaney. Those runs proved to be the difference as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Dodgers, 5-3.
The Dodgers split the four-game series in Milwaukee, giving them three losses in five games since their 12-game winning streak. After averaging 7.6 runs per game during the winning streak, the Dodgers have totaled just 13 in the five games since it ended.
Heaney struck out 10 and got a season-high 19 swings-and-misses (11 on his slider) in just 4 2/3 innings. But McCutchen did not miss twice.
The former NL MVP hit a full-count fastball out for a solo home run in the first inning. Then McCutchen did it again in his second at-bat, jumping on a 2-and-0 slider for a two-run home run.
McCutchen struck out with two outs in the fifth but the third strike got away from Dodgers catcher Will Smith, allowing McCutchen to reach base. Renfroe followed with a two-run home run that ended Heaney’s day.
Heaney had given up just one home run in his first 31 innings this season before giving up three to the Brewers Thursday.
A five-run lead seemed like overkill with reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes on the mound.
The Brewers right-hander held the Dodgers scoreless through the first five innings, allowing just two hits, striking out five and not allowing a runner past first base.
But the Dodgers came to life in the sixth with three consecutive hits from the top of the lineup — a leadoff double by Trea Turner, a single by Freddie Freeman and an RBI single by Smith.
Two batters later, Gavin Lux drove a ball over the wall in center field. But Brewers center fielder Tyrone Taylor brought it back. Taylor had the ball in his glove, reaching over the wall. When he crashed into the wall, though, the ball was flung loose and back into play.
Instead of a three-run home run to make it a one-run game, Taylor’s play turned it into a two-run triple — a literal defensive run saved if not a statistical DRS.
Joey Gallo walked but Chris Taylor struck out to end the inning, leaving the Dodgers trailing by two runs.
That was the last fight the Dodgers had in them. They had just one baserunner over the final three innings against the Brewers’ bullpen — a two-out walk of Justin Turner in the eighth.
