Los Angeles Dodgers vs Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers struck first in the top of the second inning. William Contreras, who entered the game hitless in his previous 20 at-bats, lined a two-out single to left off Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski. Joey Ortiz followed by driving a 373-foot home run to left field, giving Milwaukee a 2-0 lead.

The Dodgers answered in the third. Alex Call led off with an infield single, and Ohtani tripled into the right-field corner — past first baseman Gary Sánchez — to cut the deficit to 2-1. But Misiorowski got Freddie Freeman to pop out and ended the threat.

Milwaukee rebuilt its cushion in the fourth. After a two-out walk to Jake Bauers, Contreras jumped on a cutter and crushed it over the left-field wall for his 12th home run of the season, restoring the Brewers' three-run lead at 4-1. Contreras finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs after breaking a 0-for-20 skid.

The game's decisive sequence came in the bottom of the fifth. The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out — singles from Tommy Edman, Teoscar Hernández and Alex Call, plus a fielding error — bringing Ohtani to the plate with the tying run 90 feet away.

Misiorowski had thrown only five sliders the entire game before that at-bat. He threw four of them in the next six pitches, striking out Ohtani swinging on a 3-2 slider. He then froze Freeman with another slider to end the inning, pumping his fist as he walked off the mound.

"He's 6-7 and with that extension you're talking about, he releases the ball a foot closer to home plate than your average pitcher. So it's not just that it's 104, it's that he releases it right in front of your face," the MLB broadcast noted during Misiorowski's outing.

Jacob Misiorowski (MIL) — W, 12-5: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 98 pitches. Lowered his NL-leading ERA to 1.75 with a 0.75 WHIP. Struck out both Ohtani and Freeman with the bases loaded in the fifth. Player of the match.

William Contreras (MIL) — 2-for-4, 2 R, HR (12), 2 RBI. Broke an 0-for-20 slump with a single and a go-ahead home run.

Joey Ortiz (MIL) — 1-for-4, HR (6), 2 RBI. His third straight game with an RBI; now 5-for-13 during a four-game hitting streak.

Aaron Ashby (MIL) — S, 1: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K. Earned his first save of the season, striking out Alex Call with two runners on to end the game.

Shohei Ohtani (LAD) — 1-for-4, 3B, RBI (75). Produced the Dodgers' only run with a two-out triple but struck out with the bases loaded in the fifth.

The box score shows a tidy 5-5 hits split, but the damage was lopsided: Milwaukee's five hits produced four runs (two home runs), while Los Angeles managed only one run on their five hits. The Brewers went 2-for-2 with runners in scoring position; both hits left the yard. Misiorowski's 98 pitches over six innings reflected the deep counts the Dodgers worked, yet he allowed just the one run — a testament to his ability to make pitches with traffic on the bases.

Justin Wrobleski (11-5) took the loss despite also striking out six over six innings. The difference: both Brewers home runs came with two outs, a failure to close innings that has plagued him in recent starts. The Dodgers left six runners on base, including three in the pivotal fifth.

The Brewers improved to 76-48, maintaining their grip on the NL Central lead and the best record in the National League (tied with the 76-48 Rays in the AL). The Dodgers fell to 74-50, dropping 2.0 games behind Milwaukee for the NL's top record but holding a comfortable lead in the NL West, 8.0 games ahead of Arizona and San Diego (both 66-58).

Milwaukee has now won two of the first three games in this four-game series. The finale is set for Sunday, August 16, with Brewers RHP Logan Henderson (6-2, 2.88 ERA) opposing Dodgers LHP Tarik Skubal (7-6, 2.93 ERA) — a pitching matchup that could determine the series winner before both teams move on to their next opponents.

Misiorowski delivered the defining start of his breakout season on the biggest stage, staring down baseball's most dangerous lineup with four sliders — none of which the Dodgers were expecting — to escape the only jam that threatened Milwaukee's lead. The Brewers, built on pitching and timely power, look every bit like a team that can win in October, while the Dodgers are left searching for answers against elite arms with premium velocity.