Dodgers offense comes alive in 8-1 victory over Brewers

In the wake of Clayton Kershaw’s back injury, which was announced a few hours before Thursday’s 8-1 victory over the Brewers, Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts did not call a meeting with his team to address the situation. He saw no need. His players understood the gravity of the loss.

“They get it,” Roberts said. “You hear the news, and it’s like ‘Man, that sucks.’ But then it’s like ‘Let’s go. No one is going to feel sorry for us.’ That’s been the overall sentiment, which is encouraging for me.”

Roberts could not quibble about the results Thursday. The Dodgers (44-37) swatted three homers to support Kenta Maeda and exited Milwaukee with a series victory. This trip featured a serious injury to Kershaw and more defeats than victories. But, for the Dodgers, at least it ended on an upbeat note.

With Kershaw gone, perhaps the team will begin to rely on rookie shortstop Corey Seager. He smacked his 17th homer of the season, a two-run shot in the fifth, and scored another run in the sixth. Trayce Thompson gave his team the lead with a two-run shot in the second. Yasmani Grandal added a solo shot in the fourth.

Maeda appreciated the support. He wavered at the start. He needed 27 pitches to complete the first inning. The Brewers loaded the bases with one out. Maeda limited the damage to one run on a sacrifice fly.

“I did throw a lot of pitches in the first inning,” Maeda said. “But my team really helped me today, scoring early runs and helping me out on that end.”

Maeda recovered to last six frames. He surpassed the 90-inning threshold for the season, which earned him a $250,00 bonus. He will earn another $250,000 check when he crosses the 100-inning mark.

The hitters hounded Brewers starter Zach Davies. Two weeks ago, he suppressed the Dodgers to one run in seven innings. He did not escape the fifth on Thursday. He exited soon after Seager went deep.

In recent days, the Dodgers have made a public relations push for Seager to start in the All-Star game. He may lose the fan vote to Cubs shortstop Addison Russell. But Roberts thinks the case for Seager, who is hitting .299 with an .899 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, is sound.

“Obviously, I have a biased perspective,” Roberts said. “But I think he’s clearly the best shortstop in the National League . . . Corey Seager is what this game is about, now and going forward.”

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

Twitter: @McCulloughTimes