MILWAUKEE — Logan Henderson pitched five shutout innings through a sore lower back and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 on Friday night at American Family Field, backing a four-run first inning that set the tone before the game was seven minutes old.
William Contreras hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first, Andrew Vaughn added a run-scoring double in the second and the Brewers never had to chase the game after that. Henderson also walked Shohei Ohtani to begin the night, threw him out trying to steal second in the first inning and later struck him out on four pitches in the fifth as Los Angeles was held scoreless through the right-hander's five innings.
It was the latest sharp outing from a pitcher Milwaukee has kept bouncing between the majors and Triple-A, and the Brewers needed every clean frame. Henderson said the back issue was just “a little low back tightness,” adding, “I've dealt with it before in years past. A little tight mid-game, but feel good about it moving forward.”
That mattered because the Dodgers came in with one of the deepest top sevens in the sport, lining up Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Tucker, Andy Pages, Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández in order. Henderson did not let that group settle in. He worked around the opening walk to Ohtani, handled the baserunning threat when he picked him off at second, and then kept the rest of the lineup quiet long enough for Milwaukee's early cushion to hold.
After Ohtani was rung up in the fifth, Henderson said he was not fully aware of the pause that came with the stolen-base attempt but was glad it ended with an out. “The caught stealing, I wasn't really sure what was going on with the whole delay, but I was glad he was out,” he said. Murphy said he had left-hander Shane Drohan ready in the fifth, but Henderson got through the inning and finished his outing without allowing a run.
The Brewers' confidence in Henderson has grown quickly, and with good reason. He made a two-inning spot start at Kansas City on April 4, was sent back to Class AAA Nashville afterward, then returned with an eight-strikeout performance over six innings at Washington on May 3. More than 13 months after his first major league debut — a six-inning, one-run, nine-strikeout performance against the A's — he looked again like a starter who belongs.
Murphy said the club has come to expect that kind of standard from its young arms. “There's pretty high standards and they live up to them,” he said, a fitting line for a staff that has also been leaning on pitchers such as Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison, Brandon Sproat, Shane Drohan, Chad Patrick, Coleman Crow and Robert Gasser. Against a powerful Dodgers lineup, Henderson met that standard for one more night.
The final score never changed the shape of the evening. Milwaukee took control in the first, Henderson protected it through five, and the Brewers handed Los Angeles a loss that was as much about one starter staying composed through discomfort as it was about the bats that gave him breathing room.
