Logan Henderson pitched five shutout innings and the Brewers beat the Dodgers 5-1 on May 22 at American Family Field, a game decided before the second inning.
Milwaukee opened the scoring with a four-run first inning capped by a three-run home run from William Contreras, and added an RBI double from Andrew Vaughn in the second to make it 5-0. The Dodgers managed only one run the rest of the way.
Henderson, who walked Shohei Ohtani to open the game, recovered to strike out Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman as part of his five shutout innings for Milwaukee. The outing came as the Brewers extended a streak: this was their ninth consecutive regular-season victory against the Dodgers.
Shohei Ohtani’s early trouble added a twist. After the initial walk, Ohtani was thrown out trying to steal second base in the first inning following a Brewers challenge, a call that had been overturned on replay earlier in the sequence. Henderson said of the start, "I never love to start the game off with a free pass but I was happy with the way we were able to bounce back." He also addressed the rundown around the caught stealing: "The caught stealing, I wasn't really sure what was going on with the whole delay, but I was glad he was out."
The Dodgers started Justin Wrobleski, but they were held to a single run by the Brewers’ offense and Henderson’s length. After the first-inning barrage, Milwaukee managed the lead through the middle innings, and Henderson completed his outing without allowing a run.
Contreras’s three-run homer in the first provided the scoring thrust that the Brewers rode, while Vaughn’s RBI double in the second added insurance. Those two swings — a four-run first inning in total — supplied all the offense Milwaukee needed in front of their home crowd at American Family Field.
Henderson’s appearance on May 22 was the latest chapter in a brief, stop-start run this spring and early season: he made a two-inning spot start at Kansas City on April 4, was sent back to Class AAA Nashville, and then returned with an eight-strikeout, six-inning performance at Washington on May 3 before pitching well against the Yankees on May 10. The May 22 outing showed the same poise those previous turns suggested, even after the early walk to Ohtani.
Henderson acknowledged some physical feedback after the game, saying simply, "A little low back tightness." He added that he was pleased with how he and the team responded after the leadoff walk.
The game leaves a clear, immediate fact: the Brewers again handled the Dodgers, 5-1, with Henderson providing five shutout innings and Contreras supplying a three-run homer in a decisive first inning. The pressing question now — and the one the Brewers will have to answer before they meet Los Angeles again — is whether Henderson’s low back tightness is a short-term tweak or something that will alter the way Milwaukee uses him in upcoming starts.
