Adrian Gonzalez home run rescues Dodgers in finale with Brewers

LOS ANGELES -- Adrian Gonzalez continued his July power surge, hitting a two-run home run in the eighth inning, giving the Dodgers a 4-3 comeback victory over the Brewers to capture the series and head into the break on a high note.

Down a run, Howie Kendrick opened the eighth inning with a single to center field then advanced to second when the ball was bobbled by Carlos Gomez. That brought up Gonzalez, who lined a ball over the right field wall against left-hander Will Smith to give the Dodgers a lead.

It was the fifth home run for Gonzalez on the 10-game homestand, which the Dodgers finished 6-4.

Though he was also 7-for-35 (.200) on the homestand, a fact Gonzalez willingly pointed out after the game.

"Five home runs and two [other] hits," he said. "I'm just getting the ball up in the air. At least if I'm getting very few hits, it's good that they're homers."

Gonzalez, one of five Dodgers All-Stars, enters the break with 18 home runs and team-leading 55 RBI, hitting .283/.355/.520. That was his second home run against a left-handed pitcher this season, in 79 plate appearances.

Gonzalez has hit 13 of his 18 home runs this season at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers improved to 5-25 (.167) when trailing after seven innings in 2015, compared to the rest of MLB having a .067 winning percentage in those games. Last year the Dodgers were 1-53 (.019) when trailing after seven innings.

Pedro Baez pitched a perfect eighth inning, with one strikeout, to earn the win.

Kyle Lohse entered Sunday with nearly as many runs allowed (72) as strikeouts (74) on the season, so naturally he struck out six and walked none over five innings, allowing just two runs.

A.J. Ellis did homer to center field against Lohse in the fifth inning, his second straight start with a home run. Ellis has a four-start hitting streak, encompassing all of his playing time in July, hitting .462 (6-for-13) during that span with two home runs, a double and two walks.

Dating back to May 26, Ellis is hitting .325/.449/.550 in 15 games.

Manager Don Mattingly was prescient before the game regarding Brett Anderson, who entered Sunday with an MLB-high 67.9-percent ground ball rate.

"This is a tough lineup for him today, so we'll see if this goes good," Mattingly said. "Hopefully we'll get some ground balls out of him."

Anderson got the ground balls per usual, recording 12 ground ball outs, but also allowed a pair of home runs to tie his season high, and one more than he allowed in his previous five starts combined.

Newly-minted All-Star Ryan Braun took Anderson deep in the first inning, his 16th of the season, then Hernan Perez hit his first major league home run in the third inning.

Even with the home runs, Anderson went deep into the game, lasting seven innings for the third time in his last four starts and sixth time in his last 10 starts. He was only at 82 pitches and might have lasted even longer had his spot in the batting order not come up in the bottom of the seventh.

Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his 16th save of the season.

Sunday particulars

Home runs: A.J. Ellis (2), Adrian Gonzalez (18); Ryan Braun (16), Hernan Perez (1)

WP - Pedro Baez (2-1): 1 IP,1 strikeout

LP - Will Smith (4-1): IP, 2 hits, 1 run

Sv - Kenley Jansen (16): 1 IP, 2 strikeouts