Watch: Shohei Ohtani homers in Dodgers 8-7 loss to Brewers

Another night. Another Brewers win. Another Dodgers letdown.

The Milwaukee Brewers are steamrolling through July like a team on a mission — and the Los Angeles Dodgers are caught in the wreckage. Saturday night’s 8-7 loss at Dodger Stadium marked Milwaukee’s ninth consecutive win, with five of those coming directly at the Dodgers’ expense. Before a sold-out crowd of 53,540, the Brewers flexed their depth, their power, and their poise. The Dodgers, on the other hand, are still searching for theirs.

There was some fight. There was even some fire. But once again, it wasn’t enough.

Shohei Ohtani was one of the lone bright spots for the Boys in Blue on Saturday night. Ohtani hit his NL-leading 33rd home run of the season and knocked in three runs.

This latest defeat is the Dodgers’ ninth loss in their last 11 games, a troubling stretch for a team with World Series ambitions. Despite scoring seven runs — tied for their highest output during this recent cold spell — they still couldn’t find a way to finish on top.

Because on this night, Milwaukee always had an answer.

The pivotal blow came off the bat of Isaac Collins, who snapped a 4-4 tie in the fifth with a towering home run into the L.A. night. It was just his second career blast, but it loomed large. Milwaukee’s offense kept rolling, and their arms did just enough. Freddy Peralta, working around a brutal fourth inning in which the Dodgers plated four runs, still picked up the win — his seventh straight, something no Brewers pitcher has done since 1992.

With the victory, Milwaukee improved to 58-40, now riding high at 18 games over .500 — their best mark of the season. Only one game separates them from the best record in all of baseball.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, are reeling.

Manager Dave Roberts summed it up simply after the game: “They’re [the Brewers] playing as good as anybody in baseball. They clearly have our number but right now, we just got to win a game. Tonight was probably the best offensive performance we’ve had in a while.”

If there’s a silver lining for the Dodgers, it’s this — the offense didn’t stay silent.

Shohei Ohtani gave the home crowd something to erupt about in the third inning, launching a moonshot for his National League-leading 33rd home run of the season. The ball soared into the July sky, sailing halfway up the left-center bleachers — the kind of blast that makes you forget, for a moment, the score.

Later, Tommy Edman and Miguel Rojas added long balls of their own, showing signs of life from a lineup that’s been mostly listless over the past two weeks. It was just the second time in 11 games the Dodgers scored seven runs — but both times, they lost.

That’s the story of this stretch: not enough when it matters most.

Trailing by three runs entering the eighth, the Dodgers rallied for two to make it 8-7, sending the crowd into a brief frenzy. Ohtani thought he had hit the game-tying home run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but the ball died on the track to end the inning.

It’s been a familiar script during this skid — a few solo homers, a burst of runs in a single inning, but rarely a full game of clean baseball. Defensive miscues, untimely strikeouts, and bullpen leaks have all played their parts.

And the Brewers? They’re doing the opposite. Hitting when it matters. Pitching out of jams. Stringing together quality wins — five of them now over L.A.

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For Los Angeles, the questions are mounting. Injuries have taken a toll, but even the healthy stars aren’t producing at expected levels. The bullpen has been shaky. And the division lead that once seemed secure is now under threat.

If there’s any hope to cling to, it’s that the calendar still offers time. But every game feels heavier now. And every loss, more haunting.

As the Brewers danced out of Dodger Stadium with yet another win in hand, the home team trudged back to the clubhouse — quiet, frustrated, and once again, chasing answers.

Clayton Kershaw will get the call on Sunday as the Dodgers try to avoid the season sweep by the Brewers.

Source: NBC Los Angeles