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 four-game series, 3-1, and, most critically, won the season series between the teams, 4-3.
Why does that matter so much? Because the Brewers and Dodgers are among the teams seeking one of the National League’s top two seeds, which come with a first-round bye in the postseason. And in the event of a tie, head-to-head record serves as the first tiebreaker.
Jake Bauers led the way with a career-high-tying four hits and drove in a pair of runs, and lefty reliever Aaron Ashby followed Saturday’s two-inning save with two huge outs in the eighth when he induced a Shohei Ohtani double play with Ohtani representing the tying run, as the Brewers emerged from a rematch of last year’s lopsided NLCS with the best record in the Majors at 77-48.
It was just what they needed after getting swept in San Diego 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, was thin.
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.
He 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 D-backs in 2019-20.
“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.”