Edwin Diaz struggles again, but Dodgers hold off Brewers

Andy Pages hit a go-ahead home run in the fifth inning, right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto had nine strikeouts over six innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers earned a 3-1 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.

Yamamoto (12-7) gave up one run on four hits with two walks as the Dodgers moved back to within a game of the National League-leading Brewers. Milwaukee won the series opener Thursday.

Tommy Edman added a home run and Mookie Betts drove in a run as the Dodgers improved to 4-1 to open a seven-game homestand. Right-hander Edwin Diaz finished off his seventh save despite loading the bases in the ninth on a hit batter and two walks.

Left-hander Robert Gasser (3-5) gave up three runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings as the Brewers lost for the fourth time in five games on a seven-game California road trip.

Joey Ortiz had an RBI for Milwaukee, which played without second baseman Brice Turang (knee) for a second consecutive game, while setup man Abner Abreu (forearm) was placed in the injured list earlier Friday.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Pages, Teoscar Hernandez and Betts delivered consecutive one-out singles against Gasser. Pages scored on Betts' hit.

Milwaukee tied it 1-1 in the fifth inning on an Ortiz sacrifice fly. Los Angeles responded immediately for a 2-1 advantage when Pages homered to left field, his 20th of the season.

Edman hit a home run to left-center in the sixth inning for a 3-1 lead. It was the fourth home run for the switch hitter and second while batting right-handed.

After a blown save and a loss Thursday when he gave up three runs in the ninth inning, Diaz got Ortiz to ground out to shortstop with the tying run at second base and the go-ahead run at first.

The Dodgers were without first baseman Freddie Freeman for a planned off day.