MILWAUKEE
This season, Justin Roblewski’s performances have usually followed a pretty consistent routine.
He attacks the strike zone, pitches to contact, and aims to limit any damage. Most of the time, this strategy allows him to get through innings fairly quickly and efficiently.
However, on Friday night against the Brewers, he encountered a lineup that was particularly good at countering his approach.
In a 5-1 defeat at American Family Field, the inning lengths turned out to be some of the longest in Roblewski’s breakout year.
In a grueling first inning that stretched over 15 minutes, he surrendered four runs on six hits and a walk, needing to face ten batters and throwing 38 pitches.
“They put the ball in play and got hits,” said Wroblewski. “That’s the bottom line.”
The Brewers kicked off the game with a remarkable offensive surge.
Jackson Chourio led with a single from an infield grounder. Bryce Turan followed with a solid line drive to center field. Then, William Contreras seized a first-pitch slider, sending it deep for a three-run homer into the left field stands.
“Hindsight is 20-20,” Wrobleski remarked. “But, uh, that might not have been the best start.”
He was already dealing with the challenge of having allowed the second-most runs among starters this season.
The inning didn’t get any easier. After one out, Andrew Vaughn, Jake Bowers, and Luis Rengifo each hit singles to load the bases. Following a sacrifice fly from Sal Frelich, Wrobleski walked Joey Ortiz, allowing another run to score.
Manager Dave Roberts noted, “When a pitcher who usually relies on contact faces a team that excels at it, it’s a tough matchup.” However, he added, “What’s promising about Justin is his ability to hold off major runs.”
On the plus side, the 25-year-old avoided complete catastrophe in his final five innings, managing to strike out Chourio in that difficult first, and then allowing just one run over the next four.
But then there’s the downside: he faced the exact issues that skeptics of his initial success worried about.
He entered this game with the lowest strikeout rate among the 78 qualifying Major League pitchers. Up until now, he had managed to limit heavy contact, showing efficiency. Yet, since joining the rotation, his ERA has been 2.12. He averages about 6 2/3 innings in the seven games he’s started, but there’s always the looming threat of “regression to the mean.”
“I give him credit for sticking with it and getting through five innings,” Roberts said. “But yeah, early on, he made a few mistakes, and they capitalized on those… In the last three games, including allowing seven runs over 8 2/3 innings against the Braves earlier this month, he’s definitely given up more runs.”
What it means
So, it seems Wrobleski might not be invulnerable.
And on that day, the formerly hot Dodgers offense wasn’t exactly a powerhouse either.
Rookie right-hander Logan Henderson effectively silenced the Dodgers, allowing no hits or runs in the first three innings. He managed to escape a base-loaded scenario in the fourth, finishing with seven strikeouts over five scoreless innings.
The Dodgers (31-20) didn’t get on the board until the seventh inning, when Shohei Ohtani hit a sacrifice fly. They finished with only three hits, their lowest total in almost two weeks.
Consequently, the team has now dropped nine consecutive regular season games to the Brewers since 2024 (30 wins, 18 losses). And during last year’s National League Championship Series, only four critical games were won when the two teams met.
Ohtani stood out as the only able player for the Dodgers, reaching base twice in addition to his sacrifice fly.
Still, he wasn’t flawless. He began the game with a walk but attempted to swipe second base and got caught, forcing the team backward. He also squandered a chance with the bases loaded as the leadoff hitter in the fourth, capping off the fifth with a strikeout after Teoscar Hernandez hit a single.
Who is not?
Both Dodgers catchers are struggling.
Before the first pitch, manager Dave Roberts indicated that Will Smith, who’s been having a tough time lately (he even fell to No. 7 in the series finale against San Diego), would only start one of the weekend’s three games in Milwaukee to give him time to “reset” and refine his swing after a .197 average last month.
The issue, however, is that backup catcher Dalton Rushing has also faced challenges. He hasn’t hit a single base knock in his last 19 at-bats, managing only a single in the seventh inning on Friday.
To the next
The Dodgers will aim to even the series this weekend when Roki Sasaki (2-3, 5.09 ERA) takes the mound against Robert Gasser (0-0, 4.50 ERA) on Saturday.
