WP - Pedro Baez (1-1) LP - Josh Hader (0-1) SV - Kenley Jansen (7) HR - MIL: Christian Yelich (11), Eric Thames (3); LAD - Kiké Hernandez (5) Box Score Coming into tonight, Josh Hader had only ever allowed 4 hits on an 0-2 count. Ever. E-V-E-R. Nobody had ever homered against him on an 0-2 count. Ever. E-V-E-R. Kiké Hernandez had never homered on an 0-2 count. Never. N-E-V-ER. Then Hernandez jumped on an 0-2 high fastball from Hader that wasn’t quite high enough to hit a go-ahead 3-run home run in the 8th inning, helping power the Dodgers to their 6th straight win and send the Brewers to their 3rd straight loss, 5-3. MAMA, THERE GOES THAT MAN. pic.twitter.com/9hC8tZ1XpH — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 20, 2019 Things started well enough for Hader, as Craig Counsell called on him for an at-bat that seemed like it could decide the game -- facing Cody Bellinger with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the 7th inning. The battle lived up to the hype, with Bellinger working a 7-pitch at-bat before Hader eventually got him swinging to end the threat. If it’s possible to have a playoff atmosphere in April, this might have been it. Bases loaded. 2 out. Tie game. Hader vs. Bellinger. This alone is worth the price of admission. #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/j4xbhIfUOz — Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 20, 2019 That at-bat would just be the first of many battles for Hader, as the Dodgers continued to make him work for every out. After forcing him to throw 38 pitches in 1.1 innings of work a week ago, it was much of the same this time around. A.J. Pollock led off the fateful 8th inning with a 9-pitch walk, and David Freese also worked a walk in an at-bat that had a couple of close could-have-been-strikes that were ruled balls to set up the Hernandez home run. Before Hader entered, Jhoulys Chacin and Junior Guerra also fought their command and an inconsistent strike zone, but were largely able to escape unscathed. Chacin walked 3 during his 5 innings, but managed to limit the Dodgers to just 2 runs on 5 hits, bouncing back from a poor start against them in his last outing. It was a fairly typical Chacin start that felt shakier at times than the results would show, but Chacin, Yasmani Grandal and the Brewers’ coaching staff deserve some kudos for switching up his approach for his second start against the Dodgers in a week. Chacin typically throws his slider 48 percent of the time, but tonight focused more on his fastball. While he struggled to throw it for strikes at times, the change in strategy kept the Dodgers off-balance and they weren’t able to truly square much up off of him. Alex Claudio bridged the gap between Chacin and Guerra, throwing 1.1 hitless innings and inducing a bunch of weak contact, but did leave a runner on base for Guerra following a walk. Guerra allowed a single to pinch-hitter Chris Taylor before walking Corey Seager to load the bases. Guerra was able to strike out Justin Turner looking, thanks in large part to the framing of Grandal behind the plate, before handing the ball over to Hader. Offensively, the Brewers got off to a good start against Ross Stripling, with Lorenzo Cain leading off the game with the 1,000th hit of his career and Christian Yelich hitting yet another home run to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Yelich added on to his club record for March/April RBI, and has now tied Eric Thames for the Brewers record for home runs in the month. Christian Yelich's 11th home run ties Eric Thames' franchise record for dingers in March/April. Ten games left on the April schedule after today. — Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) April 20, 2019 It’s still only April 19th, by the way. Stripling settled down after that, though, eventually striking out 8 despite only working 4.2 innings. The Dodgers bullpen looked like its old shutdown self after that, not allowing another run until Thames hit a solo home run off of Joe Kelly in the 8th inning. Kenley Jansen locked down his 7th save and the Dodgers’ 14th win with a perfect 9th inning. After the game, Craig Counsell announced Chase Anderson will be getting the start Saturday night. He’ll face off against Hyun-Jin Ryu, who is being activated off the Injured List, pushing Clayton Kershaw’s start back to Sunday. Not only does that possibly give the Brewers a better chance at winning Saturday, but it also sets up a rematch on Sunday between Kershaw and Brandon Woodruff, Who Homered Against Clayton Kershaw In The NLCS. First pitch Saturday is at 6:10 p.m. CDT.<doc-sep>MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - APRIL 19: Enrique Hernandez #14 of the Los Angeles Dodgers rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the eighth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on April 19, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) The Dodgers have seen plenty of the Milwaukee Brewers lately between two series in a weeks span and last year’s NLCS. Yet the team had still not gotten to Josh Hader. The Dodgers and the Brewers are not divisional opponents, but it sure feels that way lately. After playing them seven times in the 2018 NLCS, the two teams will play seven times in just over a week. Due to the odd schedule, it has made it feel like the Brewers are another divisional opponent despite being a member of the NL Central. Entering Friday’s game, the Dodgers have seen plenty of Josh Hader yet they had been unable to do any damage against him. Last Friday the Dodgers loaded the bases against Hader but a couple of strikeouts ended the scoring threat. Coming into Friday’s game the Dodgers had been scoreless against the ace reliever dating back to last October. That’s when Kiké Hernandez stepped into the batter’s box and stunned the Brewers and Josh Hader. Josh Hader had never allowed a home run with an 0-2 count prior to Hernandez’s three-run shot on Friday night. In fact, in an 0-2 count, Hader was just about automatics holding opponents to a .049 average with 62 strikeouts in 81 at-bats. He had only allowed four base hits on an 0-2 count, with zero being a home run. Kiké has made it known in past seasons that he mashes left-handed pitching and on Friday night he homered off the best left-handed reliever in the game. The Dodgers had been inching closer to getting runs across the board against Hader and on Friday it happened in the unlikeliest of circumstances. An 0-2 count, on a fastball, left up and over the plate, and Kiké made Josh Hader pay for it. After this weekend’s series, the Dodgers and Brewers will not see each other for the rest of the season unless the two teams happen to meet up in the playoffs for another thrilling series. If they do happen to see each other in the postseason the Dodgers should have better at-bats if they see Hader again in a critical spot of a postseason game. Despite being nearly unhittable against the rest of MLB, the Dodgers have put together solid at-bats against him.<doc-sep>Enrique Hernandez hit a three-run home run with two outs in the eighth inning and the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to six games with a 5-3 victory Friday over the Milwaukee Brewers. Hernandez connected on an 0-2 pitch against Brewers All-Star closer Josh Hader (0-1) to break a 2-2 tie and score A.J. Pollock and David Freese, both of whom walked. It was Hernandez's fifth home run of the season. Christian Yelich hit a home run for the second consecutive game and for the sixth time in five games as the Brewers lost their third consecutive game overall and their third consecutive against the Dodgers since Sunday. Milwaukee's Eric Thames hit his third home run in the eighth. Pedro Baez (1-1) recorded two outs in the seventh inning to pick up the victory. Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his seventh save and his third in three days. Yankees 6, Royals 2 CC Sabathia allowed an unearned run in five innings and Brett Gardner hit a two-run homer as New York beat Kansas City at Yankee Stadium. After throwing 62 pitches in his return from cardiac surgery and a knee injury in his season debut Saturday against the Chicago White Sox, Sabathia (1-0) was stretched out further this time and delivered an 86-pitch outing. He worked around four walks and held the Royals to three hits while getting five strikeouts for his 247th career win. Gardner provided the Yankees with a 2-1 lead when he blasted 2-0 fastball from Kansas City starter Jakob Junis (1-2) over the right-center field fence in the third. Mike Tauchman also homered in the fifth as the Yankees won for the third time in four games despite committing three errors. Rockies 4, Phillies 3 (12 innings) Charlie Blackmon hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning as Colorado rallied to beat Philadelphia in Denver. Bryce Harper had five hits and Rhys Hoskins and Maikel Franco had three hits apiece for the Phillies, who saw two players leave with injuries -- Andrew McCutchen was hurt on a swing in the second inning and shortstop Scott Kingery suffered a right hamstring injury running to first in his third at-bat. The Phillies took a 3-2 lead on Harper's RBI double in the top of the 12th off Chad Bettis (1-2) but Colorado came back against Juan Nicasio (0-1). Tony Wolters drew a one-out walk and after Raimel Tapia popped out, Blackmon hit a 1-2 fastball into the Philadelphia bullpen to end it. Astros 7, Rangers 2 Justin Verlander worked seven strong innings and was backed by an offense that produced seven extra-base hits as Houston claimed the opener of its three-game series with Texas at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Verlander (3-0) gave up his first hit with two outs in the fourth inning and carried a shutout into the sixth. He surrendered a leadoff home run to Rangers second baseman Danny Santana in that frame but recovered to complete his outing with flair, getting three successive called strikes against Texas center fielder Delino DeShields. The Astros got off to a rousing start against Rangers left-hander Drew Smyly (0-2), with George Springer (double), Jose Altuve (home run) and Alex Bregman (home run) reaching in succession to open the game. When Altuve added an RBI single in the second, Houston led 4-0 and cruised from there. Cubs 5, Diamondbacks 1 Kyle Hendricks pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 11 as Chicago snapped visiting Arizona's four-game winning streak on a cold, blustery Friday afternoon. Hendricks (1-3) gave up three hits and walked two. Steve Cishek pitched the eighth to run the Cubs' scoreless innings streak to 31 before the Diamondbacks rallied off Brad Brach in the ninth. Arizona starter Merrill Kelly (1-2) worked around two walks in a 33-pitch first inning and was almost out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the second when Kris Bryant hit what normally would have been a lazy fly behind second base. But the wind took over and second baseman Wilmer Flores stumbled while chasing the ball, which fell into shallow right field for a two-run double. Pirates 4, Giants 1 Right-hander Jordan Lyles pitched six four-hit, scoreless innings before leaving because of a hand injury, and Pittsburgh earned a fourth consecutive win, beating visiting San Francisco. Lyles (2-0), Pittsburgh's fifth starter and part of a rotation that led the National League entering the night with a collective 2.09 ERA, struck out six and walked one. He lowered his ERA to 0.53. Lyles left after an inning-ending double-play comebacker by Joe Panik in the sixth grazed his pitching hand as he instinctively ducked and raised his hands. He was being evaluated for a contusion. The Pirates also lost center fielder Starling Marte and shortstop Erik Gonzalez when they collided while chasing a fly ball in the eighth. Giants starter Madison Bumgarner (1-3) gave up four first-inning runs before settling down to go another five innings. He allowed six hits and one walk while striking out seven. Marlins 3, Nationals 2 Miami ended its 24-inning scoreless streak early in the game and went on to defeat Washington at Marlins Park, ending a four-game losing streak and winning for just the third time in its last 16 contests. Left-hander Caleb Smith (2-0) earned the victory, giving up one run on five hits without walking a batter while striking out eight in six innings. He has 29 strikeouts in 23 innings this year. Washington's Anibal Sanchez -- who made his major league debut with the Marlins in 2006 and had a no-hitter in six-plus seasons with the franchise -- took the loss to fall to 0-2. He allowed five hits, four walks and three runs in 5 1/3 innings. He also struck out six. Mets 5, Cardinals 4 Wilson Ramos and J.D. Davis had back-to-back RBI hits in the first inning for visiting New York, which never trailed but needed to survive a late comeback by St. Louis to end a two-game losing streak. The Cardinals have lost three of four. St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright (1-2) retired the first two batters of the game before giving up a double to Robinson Cano, who had a season-high three hits. Michael Conforto walked, after which Ramos singled home Cano before Davis doubled to score Conforto. Seth Lugo (1-0), the first of five Mets relievers, earned the win despite allowing two runs in two innings. Edwin Diaz allowed a pair of baserunners before retiring Molina on a lineout to close out his seventh save. The two runs Lugo gave up came off the bat of pinch hitter Lane Thomas, who hit a two-run homer in his first big league plate appearance. Reds 3, Padres 2 (11 innings) Derek Dietrich hit a two-run homer off Craig Stammen with one out in the 11th inning to lead Cincinnati past host San Diego and hand the Padres their fifth straight loss after an 11-5 start to the season. The Reds scored a second straight win following four consecutive defeats. Right-handed reliever Jared Hughes (2-0) pitched one scoreless inning for the win, and Michael Lorenzen recorded his first save. Stammen (2-1) took the loss after yielding two runs (one earned) in two innings. Dietrich's homer followed a pitching duel between starters Anthony DeSclafani of Cincinnati and Matt Strahm of San Diego, each of whom gave up a solo home run and only two hits. Red Sox 6, Rays 4 Mookie Betts and Mitch Moreland hit back-to-back home runs to break an eighth-inning tie as Boston beat Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla. Betts, critical of himself earlier this week for his poor play to begin the season, went deep to dead center to lead off the eighth for a 5-4 lead, and Moreland followed with a blast to right-center as Boston snapped a three-game losing streak, with Brandon Workman (1-1) getting the win in relief. The Rays lost for just the third time in their past 11 games. Diego Castillo (0-2), who served up both eighth-inning homers to the only two batters he faced, took the loss.<doc-sep>
The Dodgers were denting Josh Hader’s usually unblemished armor in the eighth inning of their 5-3 win Friday night, steadily pecking at baseball’s best left-handed reliever, but time was running out. Hader had faced four batters in the inning before Enrique Hernandez stepped into the batter’s box to try to solve the shaggy-haired slinger. Two walked, offering hints of Hader’s mortality. Two struck out, offering reminders of Hader’s dominance. Then Hader pounced on Hernandez, firing two 94-mph fastballs by him to go up 0-2 and clench Hernandez in a vise-grip. Before the clash, Hader had gone up 0-2 on a hitter 82 times in his career. The Milwaukee Brewers’ relief ace had never issued a walk. He had allowed four hits for an .049 batting average against. The only extra-base hit was a double. Hernandez’s long odds of success grew longer in a blink. But Friday’s sequence took a detour. Hader didn’t finish Hernandez off. He didn’t wiggle out of the rare trouble. Instead, to the palpable shock of the thousands at Miller Park, Hernandez turned on a 96-mph fastball up over the plate and whacked it over the left-field wall for the go-ahead three-run home run. “In that situation, I was just trying to put the ball in play, stay as short as possible,” said Hernandez, who entered the game as part of a double-switch in the sixth inning. “And the ball happened to catch the barrel.” The homer — Hernandez’s fifth this season — was the fifth Hader has surrendered with two strikes since breaking into the majors and establishing himself as a force in 2017. It was Hernandez’s first career home run on an 0-2 count, his first hit against Hader in six career encounters, and it was the difference in the Dodgers (14-8) extending their winning streak to six games. “To get Hader in the game and to put those at-bats on him, I thought we did a great job,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Even those at-bats leading up, we did a great job.” The Dodgers’ win streak has been built on their starting pitching’s prowess. Entering Friday, their starters had allowed five runs (four earned) across 26 innings over the previous five games. That was good for a 1.38 earned-run average. None of the five starters logged fewer than six innings. The five-game run followed a stretch in which the Dodgers went 11 days without a starter completing six innings. The combination powered a six-game losing streak. Ross Stripling ignited the streak with eight innings against the Brewers on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. Five days later, the Brewers (12-8) presented a tougher challenge. It took two batters for Stripling to stumble Friday. After Lorenzo Cain slashed a single for his 1,000th career hit, Christian Yelich smashed the first pitch he saw — an 89-mph slider in off the plate — over the wall. The two-run home run was Yelich’s 11th this season, most in the majors. Those were the only runs the Brewers scored against Stripling. His leash, however, wasn’t long. The right-hander exited with two outs in the fifth inning after walking Yelich with his 84th pitch. He was beginning a third turn through the Brewers’ lineup. Roberts decided against letting him continue it and Stripling left with eight strikeouts in 42/3 innings. Left-hander Scott Alexander replaced him to face the left-handed-hitting Mike Moustakas, who grounded out. “I thought Ross was good, not great,” Roberts said. For the second straight night, a Brewers right-hander was effective for five innings but had his pitch count balloon too much to continue. On Thursday, the Dodgers bounced Zach Davies early. On Friday, it was Jhoulys Chacin who exited after throwing 94 pitches in five innings. The Dodgers knotted the score with runs in the second and third innings. Alex Verdugo, making his ninth start, made his mark on a game again by supplying the first run with a two-out double to the left-center field gap. The line drive scored Cody Bellinger from first base for his 13th run batted in. It was Verdugo’s 10th hit and fourth double in 27 plate appearances with a runner on base this season. The next inning began with Chacin issuing a four-pitch walk to Stripling. Bellinger later lifted a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to score Stripling and tie the score. Frustration with home-plate umpire Brian O’Nora mounted for the Dodgers in the seventh inning.