Brewers 5, Dodgers 2: Zack Greinke struggles

The Dodgers were beginning to gain confidence heading into Tuesday's matchup against the Brewers, yet the optimism dissipated as Zack Greinke lacked command all evening. Hitting wise, the continued theme of struggling with runners in scoring position lead to a 5-2 loss.

Greinke's highly anticipated return to Miller Park was erratic, therefore it only lasted four innings. Greinke's final game line was: five earned runs, nine hits and three free passes.

The rough outing caused Greinke's ERA to jump from 1.62 to 3.48. Early on Greinke wiggled his way out of some precarious situations, but the luck ended in the fifth inning.

Play by play announcer Eric Collins described Greinkes' fifth inning concisely and accurately, "Zack just lost it a little bit."

In the notorious fifth inning, the Brewers posted five consecutive hits off Greinke and extended the lead to 5-2. Shortstop Jean Segura got the rally started with a triple over Ethier's outstretched arms; which is quite ironic because he was the main piece in the trade that sent Greinke to Anaheim. One pitch later Ryan Braun belted an RBI single right up the middle, scoring Segura and tying the game up at two's.

Carlos Gomez, the Brewers budding star, came up two batters later and had a two RBI ground rule double. The double marked the Brewers first extra base hit of the series. The inning seemed to be never ending, but Dodgers reliever Matt Guerrier accomplished a rare feat, picking off runners and first and third to put out the fire.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers had a plethora of offensive opportunities to win Tuesday's contest. Don Mattingly's club accumulated a respectable 10 hits, but will be kicking themselves after only scoring two runs, leaving 11 men on base and six in scoring position.

The stat line of the night belongs to Ron Roenicke's bullpen, tossing five and two thirds innings of scoreless baseball. Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier were not able to build upon Monday's breakout performances, collectively going two for eight and epitomizing the Dodgers disappointing effort.

Up Next

The Dodgers end their road trip Wednesday morning with Hyun-Jin Ryu attempting to grab the series victory over the Brewers.

Tuesday's particulars

Home runs: None

WP - Mike Fiers (1-2) 1.2 IP, no runs, 2 hits, 1 strikeout

LP - Zach Greinke (2-1) 4 IP, 9 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, 1 strikeout

Sv - Jim Henderson (9): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts