MILWAUKEE (AP) — Freddie Freeman homered and drove in three runs and Clayton Kershaw won his National League-best sixth game as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-1 on Wednesday to take the three-game series.
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Will Smith and Miguel Vargas also went deep for the NL West-leading Dodgers, who top the NL in home runs (64).
Kershaw (6-2) struck out eight batters and walked none over seven innings while allowing five hits. Besides giving up a home run to William Contreras, he allowed only one other runner to reach second base.
It was the seventh time the 35-year-old Kershaw pitched six or more innings. He had won four straight before giving up four runs and walking five batters in 4 2/3 innings in his last start, a loss at San Diego.
The Dodgers scored seven runs in five innings off Milwaukee starter Wade Miley (3-2).
The 36-year-old Miley, signed as a free agent after pitching for the Cubs in 2022, retired the first 10 batters before Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning when Freeman and Smith hit back-to-back home runs.
After Contreras’ homer in the fourth inning, Freeman extended Los Angeles’ lead to 4-1 with a two-out single in the fifth. Miley had loaded the bases by allowing a single and two walks.
The lead was extended to 6-1 on Vargas’ home run in the sixth.
Wander Suero pitched the eighth and ninth innings, striking out three.
Milwaukee closer Devin Williams appeared in a rare non-save opportunity, throwing a perfect ninth inning. He hadn’t pitched since Sunday.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: Manager Dave Roberts said a decision likely will be made Friday on whether to put RHP Noah Syndergaard on the IL. Syndergaard left his start Tuesday after one inning (right index finger cut).
UP NEXT
Dodgers: Host the Padres for a three-game series starting Friday, with RHP Dustin May (4-1, 2.68 ERA) taking the mound. San Diego did not announce a starter.
Brewers: Host the Royals for a three-game series starting Friday, with RHP Corbin Burnes (3-2, 3.86 ERA) taking the mound. Kansas City did not announce a starter.
TOP PHOTO: Milwaukee Brewers’ William Contreras reacts on home plate after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday, May 10, 2023, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)