The Milwaukee Brewers extended their lead in the National League Central division to 8.5 games by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 on Wednesday night. The St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates all lost, while the Cincinnati Reds won their fourth straight game. At 68-52, Milwaukee is the only team in the NL Central with a winning record. Both the Reds and Cardinals are 60-61.

The Brewers’ win ended a three-game losing streak and prevented Milwaukee from losing four games in a row for the first time this season.

It wasn’t a perfect win, nor was it a clean game from either team, but the Brewers now have a chance to tie the series when they face the Dodgers again on Thursday afternoon.

Milwaukee Brewers starter Frankie Montas overcomes a difficult first inning and makes a solid start

The Brewers once again earned their victory by coming back after starter Frankie Montas had a difficult first inning.

Frankly, it’s easy to have a rough first inning against the Dodgers, whose first three batters were Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Those three players cost over a billion dollars combined and won four MVP awards between them.

Montas allowed three runs (none earned) in the first inning and it looked like the game was going to get ugly. However, Montas kept the Dodgers off the scoreboard for the rest of the night, finishing the game with five innings pitched, five hits, three unearned runs, three walks and six strikeouts.

The Brewers’ offense was able to overcome a three-run deficit in the second inning. First baseman Jake Bauers hit his 10th home run of the season to increase the lead to 3-1. It was the only earned run the Dodgers’ pitchers allowed all night.

Sal Frelick reached first base on an error and then scored on a triple by Brice Turang. The Brewers second baseman, who also stole his 34th base of the season during the game, scored on a broken-bat single by Jackson Chourio.

Milwaukee took a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning when Garrett Mitchell scored on a grounder by Joey Ortiz that fouled Dodgers third baseman Enrique Hernandez.

Jared Koenig gave up the lead in the seventh inning when Miguel Rojas singled Betts home. However, the Brewers regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning on another single by Chourio. With Ortiz on second base, Chourio hit a single the other way to right field. Betts, who was playing second base in right field after the game began, ran the ball too far, allowing Ortiz to score.

Devin Williams entered the game in the ninth inning for a showdown with the Dodgers’ most feared hitters.

Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams put Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman out of action with 7 pitches

As Brewers fans know, All-Star closer Devin Williams missed most of the 2024 season while recovering from stress fractures in his back, and today’s game against the Dodgers was just his fifth appearance this season.

And what a performance it was!

Los Angeles had its best hitters on the pitch in the ninth inning: Ohtani, Betts and Freeman. Milwaukee led 5-4, but with those players ready to bat, a one-run lead didn’t seem like enough.

But it was so.

Williams mowed down the Dodgers’ hitters with just seven pitches. He got Ohtani to fly out to left with the second pitch of his at-bat. Then he struck out Betts with three pitches, all fastballs. Finally, he got Freeman to get to second base with the second pitch of his own at-bat.

Seven throws. Three outs.

Win.

Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams goes viral with his dominant save against the Los Angeles Dodgers

Williams’ ability to make the save against the Dodgers’ top three hitters was impressive in itself, but the fact that he struck them all out in just seven pitches was nothing short of phenomenal.

Brewers fans and baseball fans in general expressed their admiration for Milwaukee’s star closer on social media after the game:

Devin Williams is he

— Philly Sports 🐐 (@edp445678910) 15 August 2024

Wow, Devin Williams

— Evanyea17 🌲🦌🦅 (@Evanyes171) 15 August 2024

Man, Devin Williams is so good

— Austin Brown (@aaustinnn__) 15 August 2024

Ohtani. Betts. Freeman.

Devin Williams just made the ultimate save. 😤 pic.twitter.com/BxrQPlZHDq

– No Community Notes (@nocommunitynote) 15 August 2024

Devin Williams. Just trash. #ThisIsMyCrew

— Ryan (@StillyRyan) 15 August 2024

The save was Williams’ second of the season. Since returning from injury, he now has a 1.80 ERA in five games.

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