MILWAUKEE — Regardless of which punch lands first, Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani still make quite a 1-2.
Betts returned to the lineup on Monday night after missing 45 games with a fractured left hand and needed just one at-bat to acclimate himself to his new spot in the order – batting second behind Shohei Ohtani. Betts hit a two-run home run in his second at-bat then drove in Ohtani with a single in his fourth at-bat. In between, Ohtani hit a two-run home run of his own as the Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2.
With the Philadelphia Phillies off, their fourth consecutive win gave the Dodgers the best record in the National League and tied them with the Baltimore Orioles (also off Monday) for the best record in the majors.
Encouraging as it was to see Betts return from his fractured left hand with a three-RBI game, Clayton Kershaw’s outing might have been even more of a welcome sight for the Dodgers.
He retired 11 of the first 13 batters he faced, completed five innings for the first time since returning from shoulder surgery and took a two-hit shutout into the sixth. He got Garrett Mitchell on a called third strike for the second out of the sixth inning and Manager Dave Roberts pulled him, calling 83 pitches enough for the night.
The innings were a new post-surgery high for Kershaw, who matched his season-highs in pitches and strikeouts (six) and allowed a season-low in hits (three).
In the second start of his comeback, Kershaw’s pitches looked lifeless. He lasted just 3⅔ innings in San Diego that night two weeks ago, failed to record a strikeout in a regular-season start for the first time in his career and induced just two swings-and-misses over 83 pitches that night.
In two starts since then, Kershaw has allowed just two runs in 10⅔ innings on eight hits and two walks while striking out 11.
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He left with a 4-0 lead over the Brewers. Joe Kelly quickly messed that up. He gave up a two-run home run to William Contreras then back-to-back singles before striking out Rhys Hoskins to end the inning.
Kelly has allowed five runs on five hits (two home runs) and two walks in 3⅔ innings over his past five outings, pushing his ERA for the year up to 5.32.
Contreras’ home run cut the Dodgers’ lead in half, 4-2, but Ohtani and Betts combined to add some cushion for the bullpen.
Ohtani drew a two-out walk and stole second base – his 33rd steal of the season to go with his 36th home run hit in the fifth inning. Betts drove him in with his single to make it 5-2.
Alex Vesia, Michael Kopech and Daniel Hudson combined to retire nine of the final 10 Brewers to put the game away.
More to come on this story.