LA Dodgers' offense, bullpen bail out Mike Bolsinger

LOS ANGELES >> It was the Dodgers’ bullpen that needed some relief.

The group began Saturday having thrown five innings in each of the last two games. Plus, spanning the last seven days, it was used for a total of 25 2/3 innings, a workload that was the fourth largest in the National League.

So it did not help that Mike Bolsinger was pulled from his start in the third inning after allowing nine hits and five runs. The Dodgers’ relief pitchers were on the hook for six-plus innings.

Yet the Dodgers eaed their second straight win, 10-6, vs. Milwaukee. They compiled 14 hits and three home runs.

Chris Hatcher replaced Bolsinger. Manager Dave Roberts hoped to avoid using Hatcher in the first place after he threw two innings two nights earlier.

Hatcher threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings and even got his first career hit in the bottom of the third inning during a six-run rally, the most runs the Dodgers had scored in an inning this season.

Through the first three innings that lasted 99 minutes, the Dodgers and Brewers had combined for 13 runs and 18 hits.

Justin Tuer began the scoring during the six-run barrage when he pounded an 82 mph changeup by Chase Anderson into the left field bleachers. The 398-foot shot marked Tuer’s third home run in two games, pushing his slugging percentage over .400 for the first time since the first week of the season.

Anderson, the Brewers’ starter, was pulled three batters later when he walked Howie Kendrick.

Joc Pederson had two hits in the inning.

In total, the Dodgers had six hits, two of them for extra bases, including Tuer’s homer and a two-run double by Yasmani Grandal.

Kendrick had an opposite-field home run in the second for his first extra-base hit at Dodger Stadium this season.

Milwaukee got on the scoreboard early.

To begin the second inning, the Brewers saw five of their first six batters reach base by way of singles, adding two runs. At one point, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and assistant athletic trainer Neil Rampe came out for a mound visit. But Bolsinger stayed in the game. It was unclear what might have been ailing him.

Another two-run inning followed in the third after Ramon Flores’ two-run single. Bolsinger was done. He gave up five runs and nine hits over 2 2/3 innings. Since he replaced Alex Wood on the rotation in mid-May, the right-hander has a 6.83 ERA in six starts.

Bolsinger has pitched five or fewer innings in four of his six starts and has yet to pitch past the sixth.

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