Trayce Thompson, Yasmani Grandal and Corey Seager all homered as the Los Angeles Dodgers blew out the Milwaukee Brewers 8-1 in the rubber match at Miller Park on Thursday.
Hours after finding out their ace Clayton Kershaw would be headed to the DL, Kenta Maeda and the Dodgers picked up their teammate with a big victory to win the series and head back to LA on a high note.
"To lose Clayton for any length of time is a big blow," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters. "Our guys have made a point to move forward and keep winning baseball games."
LA homered three times off Brewers starter Zach Davies. Thompson started the early fireworks show with a two-run shot in the second inning. The rookie outfielder feasted on an 88 MPH fastball up in the zone for his 12th homer of the season.
Grandal also greeted a Davies fastball for a solo shot in the fourth inning that gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.
"3-0 count, I'm definitely not swinging and just trying to get on base," Grandal said of the home-run at-bat. "But, I changed mind and thought 'if he throws me a fastball down the middle, I'll take it.'"
Finally, Seager sent an 84 MPH cut-fastball over the wall in centerfield for his team-leading 17th blast of the season in the fifth.
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"It's a game of adjustments," Seager told Alanna Rizzo of SportsNetLA after the game. "We struggled yesterday, came back today and made some adjustments and had success."
The rookie shortstop continued to state his case for the 2016 All-Star Game in San Diego as he finished 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, extending his hit streak to a season-high 13 games.
"Obviously I have a biased perspective, but he's the best shorstop in the National League," Roberts said of Seager. "Corey Seager is what this game is all about now and going forward. The numbers speak for themselves and he deserves to be in the All-Star Game."
Shortly after he surrendered the two-run bomb to Seager, Davies' day was done as the Dodgers scored three runs off the right-hander in the fifth inning to chase the Brewers starter from the game.
Davies (5-4), entered the game with a 1.64 ERA in June, but he was tagged for six runs on eight hits with just three strikeouts in 4 and 1/3 innings pitched.
LA extended their lead off Jacob Barnes in the top of the sixth. Grandal got the rally going with a leadoff walk and scored four batters later on an RBI single from Justin Turner.
One day after he was ejected in a 7-0 loss, Adrian Gonzalez followed Turner's single with an RBI double that scored Seager from second.
"We had good at-bats," Roberts added. "It was nice to see the guys come together with a game plan. Up and down the lineup there was a lot of good things."
The eight runs of offense were more than enough for Maeda who pitched phenomenally for the second time in as many weeks against Milwaukee.
The Japanese right-hander ran into trouble to start the game, surrendering a single, a walk, and a hit-batter to load the bases before a sac fly and a strike out got him out of the jam with just one-run allowed.
"I threw a lot of pitches in the first inning, but my team really helped me out by scoring a lot of runs for me," Maeda told the media through a translator.
For the second straight start against the Brewers, Maeda allowed just one run on three hits in six strong innings of work. Maeda struck out six batters and cruised to his seventh victory of the season.
Players of the Game:
Corey Seager: 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and two runs scored.
Kenta Maeda: 1 run, 3 hits, 6 strikeouts, 6 IP.
Trayce Thompson: 2-for-5 with a two-run home run.
Three Takeaways:
1. Money Ball: Los Angeles Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda surpassed the 90-inning mark on Thursday, triggering a $250,000 bonus in his contract. Maeda can reach another $250,000 payday when he surpasses 100 innings.
With his first out in the 4th inning today, Kenta Maeda reached 90 innings on the season, earning a $250k bonus. Next $250k bonus is 100 IP — Eric Stephen (@truebluela) June 30, 2016
2. Dodgers Down Davies: Milwaukee Brewers starter Zach Davies was 5-0 with a 2.46 ERA in his last 10 starts, tied for 10th best in the National League behind Madison Bumgarner, Jose Fernandez, Clayton Kershaw, Johnny Cueto, Zack Grienke and more. The Dodgers were able to snap Davies streak of quality starts by putting up six runs in just four innings against Davies.
Zach Davies has been very good over his last 10 starts. He works vs. Dodgers today. pic.twitter.com/uKBwVDqSVI — Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) June 30, 2016
3. All-Star Seager: Today is the last day you can vote for players for the All-Star Game in San Diego in two weeks. Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager is currently third in the voting at his position behind Addison Russell of the Chicago Cubs and Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies. Leading LA in almost every offensive category, Seager is definitely All-Star worthy and needs your vote!
VOTING ENDS TONIGHT! �� https://t.co/PVwmv0U3VC #VoteCorey#VoteCorey#VoteCorey#VoteCorey#VoteCorey#VoteCoreyhttps://t.co/OrF8zxyh0a — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 30, 2016
Up Next:
Dodgers (44-37): Newest Dodger Bud Norris will get thrown straight into the fire as he starts on Friday in the first game of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies.
Brewers (35-43): Milwaukee travels to St. Louis to square off with the divisional rival St. Louis Cardinals.
All quotes courtesy of Time Warner's SporstNetLA.
