The Los Angeles Dodgers took another series win against the Milwaukee Brewers backed by home runs from Will Smith, Miguel Vargas and Shohei Ohtani, but their pitching also turned in another solid night.

James Paxton made the start, going five innings with two runs allowed on four hits while striking out three and walking two. It was a bounce-back game after he allowed nine runs on 12 hits in four innings his last time out.

The first run he allowed came in the first inning after a walk to William Contreras and a single by Willy Adames. The second came in the fourth inning with a solo shot from Rhys Hoskins.

Outside of that, Paxton kept the Brewers off the board, exiting the game with the lead.

“Paxton was fine,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I thought he mixed better. I thought the command was better. Giving in to Hoskins three-two, I didn’t love, and I thought we could have done a better job that first inning with Adames, with the base open.

“But outside of that, I thought he did a nice job. I thought where he was at with the pitch count, seeing him again, and who we had available at the back end, I felt good that he did his job, which he did.”

From his debut in 2013 until last season, Paxton has been a power pitcher with great stuff that translated into high strikeout totals. Over that stretch, he struck out 26.3% of hitters he faced.

This year, that strikeout rate has dropped to just 16.2%.

“I just don’t have quite the stuff that I used to have,” Paxton explained. “I used to be able to get to 98 (mph), don’t really have that in the tank right now. The cutter hasn’t been there, that was a big strikeout pitch for me. Haven’t been able to find that pitch, so just pitching differently.”

That has forced Paxton to change who he is as a pitcher, and it has led to mixed results thus far, which he admits has been a frustrating process at times.

“Yeah, I came into the season thinking that the velocity would come, but it hasn’t really come as much as I thought it would,” Paxton said. “So I think I’m just evolving as a pitcher, my stuff isn’t what it used to be, but I’m pitching differently, pitching to weak contact and still trying to give us a chance to win.”

Paxton has done a solid job of keeping the Dodgers in the game on most nights, and he has still managed to throw 80.2 innings with a 4.24 ERA this season, which are quality numbers for a backend starter.

James Paxton adjusting pitch mix

Paxton’s cutter has been one of his go-to pitches during his career, but he has not been able to find the same success with it this season.

“Honestly, I keep on kind of throwing it, but I don’t know if it’s a pitch that’s going to come back the way that it was before,” Paxton explained. “It’s been a while since I’ve thrown that pitch the way that I can, or I have in the past. Since I came back from Tommy John, it hasn’t quite been there. So I’m kind of evolving in what I need to do to help my team win ball games.”

Paxton is still learning how to adjust without the cutter, relying on other pitches to get the job done, but still figuring out what works best.

“Yeah, I kind of figure out as I go,” he said.

“The changeup is becoming a thing I’m using a bit more. Didn’t throw a ton today, but it’s something that we’ve been using a little bit more in games, and I didn’t use that as much in the past.”