LOS ANGELES—Freddie Freeman singled in the go-ahead runs with two outs in the eighth inning, Will Smith homered three times, and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied past the Milwaukee Brewers 8–5 on Friday night in a matchup of NL division leaders.
Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani struck out three times on his 30th birthday and is 0 for 11—including six consecutive punchouts—since the second inning of Wednesday’s loss against Arizona.
But he moved two runners into scoring position with a groundout to first with the game tied 5–5 in the eighth. Miguel Vargas singled off Brewers reliever Elvis Peguero (5–3), who walked Chris Taylor and Smith to load the bases.
Freeman singled to center, scoring Vargas and Taylor for a 7–5 lead. Teoscar Hernández followed with a double to left to make it 8–5.
Daniel Hudson (6–1) got the win in relief and Evan Phillips struck out the side in the ninth to earn his 14the save.
Milwaukee’s Rhys Hoskins hit a grand slam in the fourth, but the Dodgers avoided their third loss in a row.
Smith became the fourth catcher in Dodgers history to have a three-homer game, the first of his career. His third homer, off reliever Bryan Hudson, tied the game 5–all in the seventh.
Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow opened with three perfect innings and then five of the next six batters reached base. Willy Adames drove in the Brewers’ first run with an opposite-field single.
Glasnow then walked Garrett Mitchell to load the bases and set up Hoskins’ second slam of the season.
A fan caught the ball right above the glove of center fielder Andy Pages. It happened so quickly that the baserunners didn’t immediately react and the umpires didn’t signal either. The fan threw the ball back onto the field and the Brewers took a 5–2 lead.
Glasnow retired the side in four of the first five innings. It would have been five of six innings but second baseman Gavin Lux bobbled a grounder by Mitchell for an error with two outs in the sixth.
The Dodgers closed to 5–4 in the bottom of the fourth on Vargas’ two-run homer.
They led 2–0 on solo shots by Smith off starter Aaron Civale, making his Brewers debut two days after being acquired from Tampa Bay.
The other Dodgers catchers to hit three home runs in one game are Yasmani Grandal (2016), Mike Piazza (1996) and Roy Campanella (1950). Smith now has 14 homers this season.
Civale allowed four runs and five hits in five innings. The right-hander struck out eight and walked three.
