Ohtani, Vargas help Dodgers pull away late in win over Brewers

LOS ANGELES -- Starter James Paxton had a nice bounce back start, keeping the Brewers in check while three  Dodgers hit home runs, lifting them to a 5-3 victory over the Brewers on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

Paxton (7-2) managed to contain the Milwaukee lineup, showing great improvement from his previous outing. While he was unable to earn the win, he did give the Dodger enough time put some runs on the board and get ahead.

The 12-year veteran worked through five innings, allowing four hits and walking two. He tossed 83 pitches (44 strikes), striking out three along the way. Paxton has gone three consecutive starts without reaching the sixth inning.

The Los Angeles offense managed to heat up early, mainly thanks to the electric bat of Will Smith. He was one of three Dodgers to hit a homer in the contest, accompanied by Shohei Ohtani and Miguel Vargas. The blasts from the trio added up to contribute four of the team's five runs on the night.

The Dodgers improved to 55-35, and are now 28-18 at Dodger Stadium. After losing the final two in their series against the Diamondbacks, the squad has now turned around and won two in a row. They will look to complete the sweep over Milwaukee on Sunday.

Here are three takeaways:

Smith smacks another

Just in case his three-homer game in Friday's win wasn't enough, catcher Will Smith provided even more reinforcements. 

The 29-year-old went deep in his first at-bat of the night, making it his fourth in a row with a home run.

The blast was his 15th of the year, and got Los Angeles on the board, 2-0. Smith became the first Dodgers hit home runs in four consecuive at-bats since Adrian Gonzalez in 2015.

He finished the game 1 for 5, collecting two RBIs and bringing his total to 55. That's good enough for the fourth-most on the team, while his 15 homers is the third-most. Hitting .275 with an .854 OPS, Smith continues to be a key part of Los Angeles' success.

Paxton shows improvement

Paxton looked like a much different pitcher Saturday than in his last start, when he allowed nine earned runs to the San Francisco Giants. 

He allowed two runs this time, keeping Milwaukee in the rear view mirror. After allowing an RBI single to Willy Adames in the first inning, Paxton held the Brewers scoreless in the second and third. 

The Brewers got to him one last time in the fourth, with Rhys Hoskings hitting a solo home run that pulled the Brewers within a run.

The 35-year-old walked two, making it the fifth start across his last six with two or more walks. It was nonetheless a much better day for Paxton, who allowed two at-bats to Milwaukee with runners in scoring position from innings two to five. He lowered his ERA from 4.28 to 4.24. 

Prior to his last start, he had posted a 3.39 ERA across 13 starts with a 7-1 record. 

He already has matched his win total from last season, where he finished 7-5 across 19 starts with the Red Sox. If he is able to keep earning victories behind his solid play and the lineup's electric performance, he will have a chance to beat his career-high mark of 15 wins with the Yankees in 2019.

While it wasn't a flawless performance, Paxton's work Saturday was a step back in the right direction. He gave the team five big innings and exited in position to earn his eighth victory of the season.

Clutch 8th inning

After grabbing a 3-1 lead through the first inning, the Dodgers slowly allowed the Brewers to creep back into things. Rhys Hoskins' fourth-inning solo shot made it a 3-2 game, which is where the game stood heading into the eighth.

With Evan Phillips on the mound, Christian Yelich blasted a lazer to deep center that tied the game at 3-3.  Phillips has allowed an earned run in three of his last four relief appearances, which is surprising since he previously tossed eight consecutive scoreless innings.

Pinch-hitter Miguel Vargas then hit a moonshot to open the bottom of the inning and put Los Angeles back on top.

The ball seemed to hang in the air for ages before dropping just over the wall in left field. Two batters later, Shohei Ohtani got in on the fun with a big insurance homer.

The ball was crushed 430 feet off the bat, outdoing Yelich's 429-foot blast in the top of the frame. It was the 28th home run for Ohtani, who will be representing the Dodgers as the NL starting DH for the NL at the All-Star game next week.

He finished 2 for 2 with a pair of walks, reaching base in all four of his plate appearances. The performance made him the first Dodger with a triple, walk, hit by pitch and a stolen base in a game since Jackie Robinson, who accomplished the feat back in 1953.

Now holding 65 RBI, Ohtani leads the team and has the third-most in the NL. 

With a 5-3 lead, Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia closed the doors with a 1-2-3 inning. Vesia has a 1.36 ERA across 39 2/3 innings of work.

The Dodgers extended their division lead over the Padres (49-44) to 7 1/2 games.

The teams in the series finale at 1:10 p.m. Sunday. Los Angeles is expected to call up Justin Wrobleski, who will make his major league debut. He's appeared in just two games at the Triple-A level. 

Milwaukee will start left-hander Dallas Keuchel (0-0, 6.75 ERA), who makes just his third start of the season. Keuchel was picked up by the Brewers on June 25 from the Mariners, where he had spent the first portion of the year pitching in Triple-A.