Dozier Homers in Dodgers Debut
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brian Dozier began his first game for the Los Angeles Dodgers with an error and then got better quickly.
Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run homer — his second of the game — in the 10th inning, and Dozier homered in a 6-4 comeback win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night to snap a three-game skid.
"We haven't swung the bats well the last three games," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "You feel a bit of an exhale tonight."
Dozier went 3 for 4 with two runs scored after being acquired from Minnesota on Tuesday.
"It was a fun game," he said, "especially after the home run and curtain call. That was pretty cool."
All-Star Matt Kemp ended an 0-for-26 skid with a single leading off 10th against Matt Albers (3-3). Grandal followed with his 19th homer after the Dodgers had blown a 4-2 lead.
The Brewers tied it 4-all in the eighth. Mike Moustakas doubled off reliever Scott Alexander, who gave up three walks — one intentional — before Manny Pina singled in Ryan Braun.
Dozier scored to put the Dodgers ahead 3-2 in the seventh on Yasiel Puig's single.
"That's a good debut," Kemp said of Dozier. "Show Dodgers fans what he's capable of doing."
The Dodgers trailed 2-0 in the fifth when Grandal and Dozier homered back-to-back to tie it up. Dozier went deep to center field on the first pitch from Chase Anderson.
"I'm surprised the ball actually got out. It was kind of top-spun. I thought it was going to at leat bounce or hit the wall," Anderson said of Grandal's first homer. "The pitch that I would take back would definitely be the Dozier one. I would start that at-bat with a different pitch or locate that ball a bit better."
Dozier got pushed into taking a curtain call after his 17th homer overall.
"Being the first game, it's kind of like, 'What do I do?'" Dozier said. "Kike grabbed me and said, 'Get on out there.'"
Dozier singled leading off the seventh. With one out, Chris Taylor walked and Puig singled to right field, scoring Dozier to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. Pinch-hitter Enrique Hernandez followed and sacrificed into a fielder's choice along the first-base line, scoring Taylor.
"Love the way he plays the game," Roberts said of Dozier. "He's a hard-nosed player. I think there's more of that to come."