Shohei's leadoff blast can't help Dodgers snap 5-game skid

MILWAUKEE -- Shohei Ohtani fell behind 0-2 while getting his first look at Brewers rookie phenom Jacob Misiorowski. But the Dodgers' superstar belted the next pitch he saw a Statcast-projected 431 feet to center field, putting his team on top first.

It was Ohtani's 31st homer of the season, breaking a tie with Cody Bellinger in 2019 for the most before the All-Star break in franchise history. It certainly seemed like a sign of good things to come for a Dodgers lineup that has scuffled of late, but Misiorowski didn't have much trouble putting hitters away after surrendering the leadoff blast.

Misiorowski struck out 12 of the 23 Dodgers he faced, holding them scoreless across the rest of his six innings. Clayton Kershaw countered with six innings of two-run ball, but Los Angeles was not able to generate any additional run support and fell, 3-1, at American Family Field on Tuesday night.

By striking out 15 times in all, the Dodgers matched their season high (also April 8 at Washington).

"It's hard to kind of find the silver lining when a guy strikes out 12 guys," manager Dave Roberts said. "So it just speaks to how good [Misiorowski] was. And they ran some other good arms out there out of the 'pen. Today, we just really couldn't threaten."

The Dodgers have lost a season-high five games in a row. The last time they dropped five straight was more than a year ago, from May 21-26, 2024. They'll look to avoid being swept in back-to-back series in Wednesday afternoon's finale in Milwaukee.

Los Angeles' offense has struggled to produce during this losing streak, being outscored 41-8 in three games vs. Houston and two vs. Milwaukee. This stretch coincides with the absence of Max Muncy, who went on the 10-day injured list with a left knee bone bruise last Thursday.

The lineup has proven much thinner without Muncy in the heart of the order, especially with the top three of Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman working through inconsistency at the plate. While Los Angeles' high volume of pitching injuries has been in the spotlight, the Dodgers' need for a bat ahead of the July 31 Trade Deadline might be just as pressing as they weather the next six weeks, give or take, without Muncy.

"Max's presence in the lineup," Roberts said, "and you can look back to any time that he's not available or active. What it does to our offense -- the presence, the ability to hit the ball, hit the ball hard, the at-bat quality, being left-handed, all that stuff. There's nothing we can do about it, but certainly there's a void when he's not in there."

The Dodgers were also missing another trio of regulars in Will Smith, Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández. Smith (day off) and Edman (hairline fracture in right little toe) should be back in on Wednesday, while Hernández (left foot contusion) is questionable to start because he's still "a little in-between," Roberts said.

"They're not at 100%, not in their best state right now," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of the Dodgers. "Maybe we aren't either, you know? … They are plenty good. Our pitching staff has been very, very good and I know this means a lot to them."

The Dodgers' best opportunity to build an inning against Misiorowski came in the sixth, when they had Ohtani and Mookie Betts in scoring position with one out. Ohtani broke for home on contact when Andy Pages grounded a ball toward third baseman Andruw Monasterio, who went for the play at the plate.

Ohtani was out at home, and with runners on the corners, Misiorowski got Michael Conforto to ground out to end the inning soon afterward.

"We've got to try to play for a run," Roberts said. "And second and third, we're going on contact."

The losing streak has not just coincided with Muncy's absence, but also with the Dodgers facing a tougher batch of teams. They had four series against clubs with sub-.500 records -- the Nationals, Rockies, Royals and White Sox -- before their losing streak began against the Astros and Milwaukee.

“You want to give credit to the opposing team," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. "Faced pretty good pitching the last couple days. But at the same time, even if we don’t string hits, there are ways to still score runs. So myself included, we got to do a better job of just scoring runs when there are the opportunities to do so.”