MILWAUKEE -- Robert Gasser avoided a total blowup in his first start of the season last Sunday against the Twins in Minnesota, but drew the ire of Brewers manager Pat Murphy after he hit three batters, walked two more and failed to back up home on a play that allowed a run to score.
“Five free bases in four innings, that’s not it,” manager Murphy said afterward. “He knows better, and hopefully it’ll be better.”
Gasser was indeed better for the first three innings Saturday night against the Dodgers, before running into major trouble in the fourth in what turned out to be an 11-3 loss for the Brewers, snapping their nine-game regular-season win streak against Los Angeles, which included six in a row at American Family Field.
Looking to assert himself in the rotation with rehabbing Brandon Woodruff working his way back, Gasser was in control early on Saturday with the exception of a two-out walk to Freddie Freeman in the first and a one-out triple to Kyle Tucker in the second.
“The cutter felt really good today. Had a good feel for it,” Gasser said. “I’ve been using it a lot more as of late and tonight it felt really good.”
Gasser also positioned himself perfectly behind third base on Tucker’s hit, catching a throw that sailed over third baseman David Hamilton’s head, likely saving a run and earning him a slap on the back from Brewers lead infield instructor Matt Erickson as he returned to the dugout after the inning.
But the wheels fell off for Gasser right away in the fourth, something Murphy said may have stemmed from Gasser tipping his pitches.
Back-to-back doubles by Freeman and Andy Pages leading off the inning got the Dodgers on the board. Teoscar Hernández’s three-run homer, on an 0-2 hanging sweeper from Gasser with one out in the inning, put the Dodgers up 4-3.
“I thought Gass did a really nice job, better than his previous outing,” Murphy said. “He was facing a really potent lineup. But there are some things to work on, obviously.”
That’s when the discussion turned to tipping pitches.
“There’s a huge emphasis on making sure they can’t get your signs from second base,” Murphy said. “Pitchers have to be able to not give away anything. It’s gotten to be a science. Every team does it. We do it. Some teams do it less subtle than others. He got caught up and gave away some pitches, and it ended up hurting him.”
Tipping pitches is “definitely something that has come up before,” Gasser said.
“I did look back once and saw [the runner on second] moving his hands” he said. “I haven’t looked in depth at it. I saw some of the photos, but it seemed like my hand was getting covered. Maybe they had something, maybe not.”
Tipping pitches or not, Gasser has to make some adjustments, Murphy stressed.
Gasser gave up four hits and four runs in 4 1/3 innings. He walked four and had four strikeouts while throwing 89 pitches (53 strikes).
“I’m not pleased. This is a winning ball club, and I came in and was part of two losses,” Gasser said. “It’s not ideal. I’ve got to minimize free passes and keep attacking the strike zone.”
Before undergoing Tommy John surgery in June 2024, Gasser appeared to be a strong candidate for the Brewers' rotation. He missed nearly all of last season recovering from the procedure, but did pitch in two late-season games for the Brewers.
Brewers pitchers walked 11 batters altogether, a season high, with Freeman walking four times.
Milwaukee jumped out to an early lead off Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki, with Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang connecting for back-to-back doubles to put the Brewers up 1-0 in the first inning. The Brewers moved ahead 2-0 when Andrew Vaughn hit a dribbler in front of the mound that Sasaki fielded but fired wide of first, allowing Turang to score.
The Brewers pushed the lead to 3-0 in the inning on Sal Frelick's single. Sasaki and the Dodgers bullpen then shut down the Brewers after the first. Dodgers relievers have now pitched 36 consecutive scoreless innings, their longest stretch since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“They’re good. They throw on the edges. They throw effective pitches. They have more than one pitch for a strike. They threw with command. Credit them,” Murphy said. “They’re a really good team, and I’m proud of our guys for how we’ve played them. We’ll be back.”