The Brewers were no match for the MLB-best Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series

Following a weekend in which their bats were mostly silent, the last thing the Milwaukee Brewers needed was the best pitching staff in baseball strolling into town.

That’s what the Brewers got anyway.

It was another day and another forgettable showing from the Brewers offense, which sputtered in a 4-0 shutout loss to the league-best Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night at American Family Field.

BOX SCORE: Dodgers 4, Brewers 0

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Freddy Peralta battled his command in his third start back from the injured list, walking four over four innings, but allowed just one run, a Freddie Freeman solo homer in the first inning. Peralta had to wiggle out of a jam in the fourth, striking out Cody Bellinger with the bases loaded to end the inning after walking two consecutive batters.

The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the fifth with an unearned run off reliever Peter Strzelecki as Mookie Betts reached on a two-base error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Will Smith.

Kenosha native Gavin Lux made it 4-0 with an opposite-field two-run blast off Hoby Milner in the sixth.

With the loss, Milwaukee fell to 61-53 and two games back of St. Louis for first place in the NL Central. The farthest the Brewers have been back all year is 2½ games, which took place on June 14.

Dodgers starter Julio Urías wasn’t infallible, allowing five no-out baserunners over the first three innings, but as the Brewers have over the past week or so, they had a tough time pushing runs across against a starting pitcher. Urías stranded six runners over five innings, dropping opposing starters’ earned run average against the Brewers since August 7 to 1.36.

Only one Milwaukee hitter reached base after Rowdy Tellez’s one-out single in the fourth, and even that came on a third strike that skated past the Dodgers catcher, Smith. The Brewers were hitless and without any walks, either, over their final 18 hitters.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Julio Urias, Dodgers hold Brewers to four hits in series opener