Dodgers Defeat Brewers 10-6 in Slugfest at Chavez Ravine

LOS ANGELES – Justin Turner is scorching.

The red-hot hitter homered for the second consecutive game as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied from an early three-run deficit to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-6, in a slugfest on Saturday night at Chavez Ravine.

"To be down early and fight back, it was a great night," Turner said. "Tip your hat to the bullpen, they had to pick up a lot of innings and they gave us a chance to win."

Fresh off his mulit-homer, three RBI night on Friday, Turner reached base three times and hit a game-tying three run home run in the third inning off Brewers starter Chase Anderson.

"That was a big, big, three-run homer," Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts said. "Justin put us on his back again."

In total, the Dodgers sent 11-men to the plate in the six-run third inning as both teams had combined to score 13 runs on 18 hits through the first three frames.

"It's one of those games where for me, I'm trying to keep the energy going on the offensive side and manage the pen," Roberts said of the slugfest. "It was good to see a fight in our guys tonight."

Mike Bolsinger struggled in a matchup that featured two former best friends on the mound. The right-hander allowed five runs on nine hits in just 2 and 2/3 innings--the shortest start of his career. 

"My pitches aren't doing what I want them to do right now," Bolsinger said of his piss-poor performance. "It's tough, but I'm not going to sit up here and make excuses. I wanted to see the team pick me up tonight and they did."

His counterpart, and friend, Anderson, did not fare much better as the former Arizona Diamondback product was equally inefficient on the mound.

"I texted him after and said 'that really didn't go they way we wanted it today," Bolsinger said of the matchup with his best friend. "I'm just glad that we came out with the W today."

Yasmani Grandal drove in two runs off Anderson in the Dodgers' six-run third inning--the most runs allowed by Milwaukee in a single inning this season.

Anderson (4-7) was responsible for nearly all of those runs as the right-hander allowed seven runs on six hits with three strikeouts in just 2 and 1/3 innings.

"It wasn't my night," Anderson said of his performance. "I couldn't get a break and I couldn't make pitches."

Joc Pederson—who batted leadoff for the first time in 2016—finished with a career-high three hits a solo home run to go along with two runs scored. Pederson batted around and went 2-for-2 with a stolen base in the third inning alone.

Howie Kendrick reached base twice and also hit a home run in a rare start at second base where he played for 10 seasons before being moved to third base and left field in 2016. Kendrick has hit safely in his last five games, batting .467 with a double, homer and two RBI over that span.

Another veteran, Adrian Gonzalez, also got in on the offensive onslaught, posting his second consecutive multi-hit game. Gonzalez finished 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI as the Dodgers scored double-digit runs for the fifth time this season.

"It was a team collective effort," Gonzalez said. "There's going to be times when someone is hot and someone is cold, that's how baseball goes."

Ryan Braun hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning off Dodgers reliever Casey Fien. Fien has now allowed three home runs in his last two appearances after pitching eight scoreless innings to start the season.

Milwaukee right fielder, Ramon Flores, went 2-for-4 with a two-run single and a stole base. Flores is batting .323 with a double and 6 RBI in his last 12 games.

Chris Hatcher (4-3) earned the win with 2 and 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and also recorded his first Major League hit and RBI with a single in the third inning.

"He hadn't been throwing the ball much the last 12 days," Turner said of Hatcher's performance. "For him to come out and give us two and a third scoreless tonight and get his first career hit is a pretty special night for him."

The finale of the four-game series will start at 1:10 PM PST as the team is giving out free Dodgers boxers for Father's Day.

Players of the Game: 

Justin Turner: 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and two runs scored.
Ramon Flores: 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.
Joc Pederson: 3-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored.

Three Takeaways:

1. Band of Brothers: Mike Bolsinger and Chase Anderson have been best friends since they were teenagers playing summer baseball together in Dallas, TX. Ironically, both were drafted into the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and both made the Major Leagues. The two friends were best man at each other's weddings and faced each other for the first time on Saturday night.

2. Hatcher Spells "Relief": Dodgers' relief pitcher Chris Hatcher entered the game for Mike Bolsinger in the third inning. Hatcher threw 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball, stopping the bleeding for the boys in blue and even recorded his first Major League hit and RBI in the bottom half of the inning. He became the first Dodgers' relief pitcher to drive in a run and get the win since Scott Elbert on April, 19^th 2009.

The last Dodgers relief pitcher to drive in a run AND get the win was Scott Elbert, on April 19, 2009 vs. Rockies https://t.co/b1MkG3TD7g — Eric Stephen (@truebluela) June 19, 2016

3. Six Shooter: The Los Angeles Dodgers sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs in the bottom of the third inning. The most runs they have scored in any inning this season. Their previous total was five runs which they accomplished on four separate occasions.

6 runs in the 3rd were a season high for the #Dodgers. — Alanna Rizzo (@alannarizzo) June 19, 2016

Up Next:

Brewers (31-38): Matt Garza makes his second start of the season as Milwaukee looks to split the four-game series on Sunday.

Dodgers (37-33): Kenta Maeda is back on the mound after he took a 95MPH liner off the right leg earlier in the week in Arizona. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10PM PST.

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