Brewers rally in 8th to beat Dodgers 6-4 and earn a series split in matchup of division leaders

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jackson Chourio and Wiliam Contreras homered in the first inning and scored again in an eighth-inning comeback as the Milwaukee Brewers rallied for a 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.

Devin Williams earned his third save in as many opportunities and ended the game by striking out Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani. That save came one day after Williams preserved a 5-4 triumph by retiring Ohtani, Betts and Freddie Freeman in order.

By winning both games, the Brewers earned a split of the four-game series between division leaders.

“We know we have a really good team here and we know we can compete with anybody," Chourio said through a translator. “Our job is to go out there and show it on the field.”

The Brewers trailed 4-3 when they loaded the bases to start the eighth as Chourio doubled, Garrett Mitchell walked and Contreras beat out an infield single that went off the left leg of reliever Daniel Hudson (6-2).

Willy Adames’ single to left brought home Chourio with the tying run. Dodgers third baseman Kiké Hernández then dove to his left to field a ground ball from Tyler Black, but didn’t have enough time to throwing to the plate.

Hernández threw to first instead as Mitchell scored the go-ahead run on the fielder’s choice. Contreras scored an insurance run from third when Rhys Hoskins grounded out with a batted ball that also hit Hudson’s leg.

“He gets a double-play groundball that unfortunately hit him," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "It was right at (seond baseman) Gavin (Lus). It was a double-play ball."

After falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, the Dodgers had rallied to take a 4-3 lead when Hernández greeted Elvis Peguero with a tiebreaking two-out single in the sixth inning.

Milwaukee built the early lead when Los Angeles' Jack Flaherty gave up homers to two of the first four batters he faced.

After Brice Turang doubled to lead off the first, Chourio hit a 421-foot blast to left center for his 15th homer of the season. The 20-year-old rookie also has 16 steals.

According to MLB.com, the only players that young ever to have seasons with at least 15 homers and 15 steals are Andruw Jones, Adrian Beltre, Bryce Harper, Ken Griffey Jr. and Phil Cavaretta.

One out later, Contreras sent a 417-foot drive into the second deck of the left-field seats for his third homer of this series.

“Everyone knows the Dodgers are a good team,” Contreras said through a translator. “We know we are as well.”

But after the Contreras homer, Flaherty didn't allow another hit until Turang delivered a two-out single in the fifth. The Brewers didn't score again until their eighth-inning comeback.

“I've got to get deeper into the game just to make it easier on everybody else,” said Flaherty, who lasted five innings.

Brewers starter Tobias Myers allowed four runs, two earned, and gave up eight hits and one walk while striking out one in 5 2/3 innings. That ended a string of three straight starts in which the rookie right-hander allowed no more than one run.

Bryan Hudson (5-1) earned the win by pitching two innings of scoreless relief.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers: RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (triceps) will meet the Dodgers in St. Louis to pitch a two-inning simulated game on Friday. Yamamoto had thrown 41 pitches in a bullpen session Tuesday. He last pitched for the Dodgers on June 15.

Brewers: RHP Trevor Megill (lower back strain) went to Single-A Wisconsin to begin a rehabilitation assignment.

UP NEXT

Dodgers: Begin a three-game series at St. Louis. The Dodgers haven't named a starting pitcher for Friday's opener. RHP Miles Mikolas (8-9, 5.30 ERA) will pitch for the Cardinals.

Brewers: Open a three-game home series with the Cleveland Guardians. The scheduled starting pitchers Friday are RHP Aaron Civale (3-8, 5.02) for the Brewers and RHP Gavin Williams (2-4, 4.38) for the Guardians.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani (17) grounds out during the third inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Miguel Rojas (11) scores on an RBI hit by Andy Pages during the second inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Tobias Myers (36) makes the out at first base on a ground out by Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Tobias Myers (36) throws during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames (27) forces out Los Angeles Dodgers' Jason Heyward (23) at second as he turns a double play on a ground out hit by Dodgers' Enrique Hernández during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman (5) hits a single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Gavin Lux (9) hits an RBI single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman (5) hits a single during the third inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Milwaukee Brewers' William Contreras (24) celebrates hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Milwaukee Brewers' William Contreras (24) runs the bases after hitting a home run in the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Milwaukee Brewers' Jackson Chourio (11) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded Monday to Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA, tiny pieces of genetic material that alter how genes work at the cellular level and could lead to new ways of treating cancer.

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, which awarded the prize, said the duo's discovery is “proving to be fundamentally important" in understanding how organisms develop and function.

MicroRNA have opened up scientists’ approaches to treating diseases like cancer by helping to regulate how genes work at the cellular level, according to Dr. Claire Fletcher, a lecturer in molecular oncology at Imperial College London.

Fletcher said microRNA provide genetic instructions to tell cells to make new proteins and that there were two main areas where microRNA could be helpful: in developing drugs to treat diseases and in serving as biomarkers.

“MicroRNA alters how genes in the cell work,” said Fletcher, who is an outside expert not associated with the Nobel prize.

“If we take the example of cancer, we’ll have a particular gene working overtime, it might be mutated and working in overdrive,” she said. “We can take a microRNA that we know alters the activity of that gene and we can deliver that particular microRNA to cancer cells to stop that mutated gene from having its effect.”

Ambros performed the research that led to his prize at Harvard University. He is currently a professor of natural science at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Ruvkun's research was performed at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School, where he’s a professor of genetics, said Thomas Perlmann, Secretary-General of the Nobel Committee.

Perlmann said he spoke to Ruvkun by phone shortly before the announcement.

“It took a long time before he came to the phone and sounded very tired, but he quite rapidly was quite excited and happy, when he understood what it was all about,” Perlmann said.

Last year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Hungarian-American Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 that were critical in slowing the pandemic.

The prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million) from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.

The announcement launched this year’s Nobel prizes award season.

Nobel announcements continue with the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Oct. 14.

The laureates are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.

Fletcher said there are clinical trials ongoing to see how microRNA approaches might help treat skin cancer, but that there aren’t yet any drug treatments approved by drug regulators. She expected that might happen in the next five to 10 years.

She said microRNA represent another way of being able to control the behaviour of genes to treat and track various diseases.

“The majority of therapies we have at the moment are targeting proteins in cells,” she said. “If we can intervene at the microRNA level, it opens up a whole new way of us developing medicines and us controlling the activity of genes whose levels might be altered in diseases.”

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, Cheng reported from London.

This undated picture released by Mass General shows American molecular biologist Gary Ruvkun. (Joshua Touster via AP)

This undated picture released by UMass shows Victor Ambros, PhD, the Silverman Chair in Natural Sciences and professor of molecular medicine. (UMass via AP)

Olle Kämpe, right, professor of clinical endocrinology, explains the work of this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureates Americans Victor Ambros, and Gary Ruvkun during a press conference at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Christine Olsson/TT News Agency via AP)

Olle Kämpe, right, professor of clinical endocrinology, explains the work of this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureates Americans Victor Ambros, and Gary Ruvkun, pictured on the screen, during a press conference at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Christine Olsson/TT News Agency via AP)

Americans Victor Ambros, left, and Gary Ruvkun, are seen on a screen after being awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine during a press conference to announce the winners at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Christine Olsson/TT News Agency via AP)

Nobel Committee chairman Thomas Perlmann, right, announces Americans Victor Ambros, left, and Gary Ruvkun, seen on a screen being awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, during a press conference at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Christine Olsson/TT News Agency via AP)

FILE - A close-up view of a Nobel Prize medal at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - A bust of Alfred Nobel on display following a press conference at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP, File)