Henderson outduels Skubal as Brewers take season series from Dodgers

LOS ANGELES – Logan Henderson was grateful the Brewers didn’t deal him away.

Two weeks later, the Brewers are grateful, too.

In a matchup against the ace left-hander the Brewers tried in vain to acquire at the Trade Deadline – perhaps because they refused to part with Henderson in a deal – the 24-year-old Texan delivered a career-high seven innings while outpitching Tarik Skubal in Milwaukee’s 6-2 win at Dodger Stadium.

The Brewers didn’t just win the narrative, they won the series in a rematch of last year’s lopsided NLCS, 3-1. Most critically, they also won the season series between the teams, 4-3.

“Whatever happens in October is whatever happens, but I think the anticipation is we're going to have to get through these guys,” said first baseman Jake Bauers. “We can play with them, and if we execute, we can beat them.”

It was Bauers who urged his teammates to “chill the [heck] out a little bit” after getting swept in San Diego to begin this road trip. And it was Bauers leading the way against the Dodgers, going 6-for-13 with five walks in the series, starting with the go-ahead single in Thursday’s ninth-inning comeback and finishing with a career-high-tying four hits and a pair of RBIs on Sunday as the Brewers climbed back to the best record in the Majors at 77-48.

It capped a stretch in which the Brewers went 10-7 over 17 games in 17 days and emerged five games ahead of the Cubs in the NL Central and 2 1/2 games clear of the next-closest team (the Braves) in the overall NL standings. The Brewers were 5 1/2 games ahead of the Cubs going into the 17-game gauntlet, and 1 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the overall NL standings.

On Monday, the Brewers can celebrate by taking a day off.

“It was really important to finish the 17-game stretch with a series win,” Henderson said. “Obviously, we’ve run into these guys a couple of times, and this series was really important. It’s a little momentum, and after getting swept in San Diego, this was huge for us, for sure.”

Indeed, it was just what they needed after getting swept by the Padres to begin this road trip, a series that included a Henderson start in which he pitched into the seventh inning for the first time in his Major League career, only to let a 2-1 lead get away on a two-run home run. Sunday’s start against the Dodgers began in a strikingly similar way, with Henderson limiting the Dodgers to three hits, including Max Muncy’s solo homer, and finishing the sixth inning with a 2-1 lead. Just like six days earlier, his pitch count (69) was under control. And just like six days earlier, a bullpen that has been carrying a heavy load while the Brewers run a six-man starting rotation, could use a break.

This time, Henderson got the job done. The Brewers added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh on run-scoring hits from Bauers and Andrew Vaughn, and Henderson shrugged off a leadoff walk to retire Muncy, Mookie Betts and Kyle Tucker to clear the seventh inning for the first time since he was pitching for McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas.

“It left a bitter taste in my mouth after the last outing, not being able to finish it and losing the game in the seventh,” Henderson said. “It was a really good team win today.”

It was a good series win, too. Brewers pitchers held Dodgers superstars Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Betts and Tucker a combined 5-for-50 in the series with two RBIs and 13 strikeouts. Ohtani collected the only two extra-base hits for that group, but the Brewers got him in critical junctures of each victory, including lefty reliever Aaron Ashby – back on the mound after a multi-inning save the night before – inducing a double play in the eighth inning of Sunday’s finale when Ohtani represented the tying run.

That escape preserved a win for Henderson, who finished with one of the best pitching lines of his budding career: Seven innings, three hits, one earned run, one walk and six strikeouts on 93 pitches. Through his first 17 career starts, he’s yet to allow more than three runs in an outing. According to Elias, only one pitcher since 1893 has a longer streak of starts allowing three or fewer runs to begin his career, with no relief outings mixed in: Zac Gallen, who went 23 starts for the Marlins and D-backs in 2019-20.

“There hasn’t been a pitch in a situation this season that’s looked like it’s been too big for him,” Bauers said. “What impresses me most is just the poise, and you can feel it on defense. You look at him and he looks rock-steady up there.”

Good thing the Brewers hung onto Henderson at the Trade Deadline.

“I didn’t want to lose Logan, I don’t care who it’s for,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “As long as he stays healthy, he’s going to pitch for a long time.”