jonathan hernández anchors a Milwaukee Brewers start that put Robert Gasser on the mound against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 23, 2026. It was Gasser’s second start of the season with the big league club, and it came against a Dodgers lineup built around Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
The Brewers entered with a four-game winning streak and a chance to secure a series win. First pitch was set for 6:15 p.m., and the game was nationally televised on FOX.
Gasser Gets His Second Start
Gasser’s assignment was the cleanest marker in Milwaukee’s lineup card. He had last pitched against the Twins, when he allowed two earned runs over four innings, and this outing gave the Brewers another look at him in a game that carried more weight than a routine start.
On the other side, Roki Sasaki took the ball for Los Angeles. His season line sat at a 5.09 ERA, though he had recently put together a stronger turn with seven innings and one run against the Angels. That contrast made the matchup more than a simple starter-versus-starter note. It was a test of whether Milwaukee could match a high-end Dodgers order with a pitcher still early in his big league run.
Brewers Shuffle The Order
Milwaukee also changed its own look around Gasser. William Contreras had a scheduled day off, so Gary Sánchez caught and batted fifth while Andrew Vaughn hit third. Those spots matter because they show how the Brewers were balancing rest with the need to keep pressure on a Dodgers team that could shorten a game quickly.
Garrett Mitchell was out of the lineup again because he was recovering from a sore back, though he remained available to pinch-hit later if needed. That left the Brewers with a slightly thinner bench option in a game where every late plate appearance could matter.
Dodgers Pressure At The Top
Los Angeles lined up Ohtani, Betts and Freeman at the top, with Kyle Tucker batting sixth. That top-end grouping framed the challenge for Milwaukee’s starter right away. Gasser did not just have to survive one inning. He had to navigate a stretch of the order that can turn a game in a hurry, especially with the Brewers trying to keep the winning streak alive and leave the day with a series win in hand.
For Milwaukee, the start was about more than one pitcher’s line. It was a checkpoint on a young arm, a reminder of how the club was managing its rotation, and a direct answer to whether this version of the Brewers could keep pace with a Dodgers club built to punish mistakes from the first pitch at 6:15 p.m.
