Several years ago after a particularly bad outing, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw referred to it as “a clunker.”

On Saturday night against the NL Central second place Milwaukee Brewers, the Dodgers lost a clunker.

That’s the bad news.

The good news, if you can call a 4-2 loss good news, is that it wasn’t Kershaw’s clunker. In fact, the future Hall of Famer pitched quite well, allowing only one earned run on seven hits, while striking out five and walking none in his 6.0 innings of work, doing so on 88 pitches of which 61 were strikes.

That dubious ‘clunker’ honor belongs to Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal and even more so to Dodgers superhero utility infielder Max Muncy, who committed one and two extremely costly errors respectively.

The first occurred in the bottom of the second inning when Grandal was charged with catcher’s interference on a swing by Brewers first baseman Ryan Braun on an 0-2 count which, of course, awarded Braun a free pass to first base. The less-than-popular (at least by Dodger fans) 2011 NL MVP would eventually come around to score on single by Brewers shortstop Tyler Saladino, a sacrifice fly by second baseman Hernan Perez, and a ground out by catcher Erik Kratz to make it a 2-1 ballgame and an unearned run for Kershaw.

The only earned run off of Kershaw came on his very first pitch of the sixth inning to Southern California native Christian Yelich, which he promptly deposited over the wall in straightaway center field to tie the game at two.

And then things really got bad.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth and Braun on second base (having doubled), substitute third baseman Max Muncy had a routine grounder off the bat of Brewers pinch-hitter Manny Piña go under his glove untouched, allowing Braun to score another unearned run to make it a 3-2 ballgame instead of what clearly should have been the final out of the inning. This was followed by an RBI triple off the bat of Brewers right fielder Keon Broxton for yet another unearned run against Kershaw to make it 4-2.

Dodgers utility infielder Max Muncy makes this play 99 times out of 100. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, that 100th time occurred during Saturday evening’s 4-2 loss to the Brewers. (Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

Muncy would make another error, this one a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh inning, but it did not lead to a run – not that it mattered at this point.

“I thought that Kersh threw the ball well,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo after the game. “I thought everything … I thought he had good fastball command, I thought the curveball wasn’t as  sharp as it normally is, but I thought the slider was good. You know, for me he pitched well enough for us to win and the pitch count was where it needed to be through five, certainly very efficient. The sixth inning just spun out of control and I just think all night long we just didn’t play a clean game and didn’t play the type of baseball we’re capable of.”

“I think it’s just one of those nights and Max has played very well for us defensively, and move him around the diamond, and tonight was just one of those things. So just a tough night for him, but he works hard, he prepares, but unfortunately, with Clayton on the mound, we just didn’t get it done.”

The bad news is that the Dodgers had a clunker on Saturday night. The good news it that it wasn’t Kershaw’s clunker.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

As Dodger fans know, Muncy – a natural first baseman – has been filling in for regular third baseman Justin Turner, who has been dealing with a left adductor issue and has been out of the Dodgers lineup since July 12. Per Roberts, it’s not a DL thing, but enough keep him out of action for the past week and a half, except as a pinch-hitter on Saturday night when he struck out on four pitches.

“Obviously, when JT is in the lineup we’re considerably better offensively and defensively, so that’s always a good thing,” Roberts said. “But again, Max has been good and has made plays, but tonight was just a tough one.”

But the burden doesn’t lay entirely on the shoulders of Muncy and Grandal. In the top half of the fifth inning, the Dodgers had the bases loaded with no outs against Brewers starter Chase Anderson, who was clearly struggling at that point. Kershaw would be thrown out at the plate on a single to center by Dodgers newcomer Manny Machado. Matt Kemp would then struck out on four pitches and Muncy would fly out to center to end the inning and the Dodgers single best opportunity to put the game out of reach.

While the Dodgers were giving the game away in Milwaukee, the suddenly red-hot Colorado Rockies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field for their seventh consecutive win. With that win, the Rockies moved ahead of the Dbacks in the NL West standing and now trail the Dodgers by a scant 1.0 GB. The Rox and Snakes square off again on Sunday afternoon and should Colorado win and the Dodgers lose, they will be tied for first place with Roberts’ team.

On a positive note and according to Justin Turner himself, he will be in the Dodgers lineup for the series finale against the Brewers on Sunday afternoon.

…so they’ve got that going for them.

Stay tuned.