Dodgers 1, Brewers 0: Austin Barnes’ 1st homer completes the sweep for 11 in a row after a Lance Lynn/Corbin Burnes duel

Chad Moriyama 08/17/2023 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

A pitchers’ duel between Corbin Burnes and Lance Lynn would’ve seemed ridiculous a month ago, but not so much nowadays, and it’s exactly what they delivered tonight with both going seven scoreless frames. It was the Brewers pen that relented first when Austin Barnes of all people homered for his first of the year to secure a 1-0 victory for the Dodgers.

That’s a sweep of the NL Central leading Brewers, 11 wins in a row, 15 of their last 16, and of course five straight series.

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Let’s get to the action.

After Lynn started with a clean 1st inning that ended on a flyout to the warning track, he gave up a single to start the 2nd and a steal saw him take second, but the runner was eventually stranded. A one-out single in the 3rd was erased by a double play, and a two-out walk and steal in the 4th ended with him left on base as well. After traffic, he managed to get a clean seven-pitch inning in the 5th.

The 6th looked about where the magic would end, as back-to-back singles from Tyrone Taylor and Christian Yelich started the inning and cornered the runners. However, Taylor was caught going for home on a comebacker to Lynn, a liner was hit to Freddie Freeman for the second out, and Lynn then got an infield pop to squash the threat.

The 7th was a lot easier by any standard, taking Lynn just 10 pitches to carve through his final three batters.

Hard to see this as anything but extremely promising against an opponent he may very well face in the postseason: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 87 Pitches.

Meanwhile, the biggest threat Burnes faced came on the first two batters he faced, as Mookie Betts singled and Freeman walked to kick things off. However, he then notched a pair of strikeouts, and despite a wild pitch got out of the jam.

After a clean 2nd, he allowed a lead-off single to Barnes of all people in the 3rd, and eventually balked him to second. However, he also struck out the side to make it not matter, and got clean frames in the 4th and 5th.

Mookie almost ended that streak of outs to start the 6th, but was robbed of a double by a diving Yelich, and Freddie did end it by drawing a walk. After a ground out, Will Smith‘s ball hit to right fell short on the warning track to keep the game scoreless. Like Lynn, though, he then cruised through the 7th and finished his outing looking even more dominant.

After the first two batters of the game, he allowed just a single and a walk over the next seven frames: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K, 98 Pitches.

That started the battle of the pens.

For the Dodgers, it was Caleb Ferguson in a high leverage audition in the 8th. Things started ominously with a single, but a double play erased that, and after a sliding catch by Jason Heyward in right he faced the minimum.

For the Brewers, it was Joel Payamps, who got one out but then gave up a tank to Barnes of all people, his first of the year for a 1-0 lead.

That left things to Evan Phillips for the sudden save in the 9th, and he got a couple fly outs to start. But then he issued a four-pitch walk and got behind Willy Adames 2-0 before settling in and ending the game with a strikeout.

Feels good, man.

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NL WESTRECORD
Dodgers74-46
Giants64-57 (10.5 GB)

*Either still playing or will play later.

Next up, and to complete their homestand, the Dodgers welcome the Marlins for three games starting at 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET. It’ll be Tony Gonsolin, probably still pitching for his rotation spot, against their ace Sandy Alcantara.

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