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MILWAUKEE — Looking back, Alex Vesia can say that when was traded from the Miami Marlins to the Dodgers with fellow pitching prospect Kyle Hurt in 2021, he had “no idea” what it actually meant to trust the process.

Sure, it’s a cliche, and one most strongly associated with the Philadelphia 76ers’ rebuild in the NBA a decade ago. But it’s had staying power in the sports lexicon for a reason.

The mantra clicked for Vesia in his first season with the Dodgers.

“When I first heard of it, it was just like, OK, I know what a process is,” he said before the Dodgers’ 5-1 win against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. “But then watching it over the course of the year — where fastballs need to be placed, where sliders need to go, just trusting the information. That when a guy swings a lot at sliders and misses them, trusting that when you throw yours, he will miss it.

The Dodgers’ Andy Pages celebrates his two-run home run with teammate Kyle Tucker during a win over the Brewers Sunday in Milwaukee.

(Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)

“And then over the course of a few outings, when you see those results, it’s like, ‘OK, I can do this’ more and more and more.”

Vesia is now one of the veteran leaders in a Dodgers bullpen that set a franchise record Saturday with 36 consecutive scoreless innings, surpassing the mark of 33 set in 1998. The Dodgers extended the streak to 38 on Sunday.

“Last night was awesome,” Vesia said Sunday, a day after a dominant 11-3 win. “It was a really great game because it showed how versatile our bullpen can be, that we don’t need a set inning for the guy.”

Instead, manager Dave Roberts could play matchups — having left-handers Vesia and Tanner Scott face the more heavily left-handed heart of the order, and Hurt check in for the right-handers at the bottom and top — until the Dodgers’ offense made it a blowout.

On Sunday, the bullpen had only to cover two innings, thanks to a steady performance by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who limited the Brewers to one run through seven innings. And the Dodgers relievers had a four-run cushion to work with, thanks to a fifth-inning rally that included a two-run triple from Kyle Tucker and a two-run homer from Andy Pages.

Right-hander Will Klein retired the top of the order in a clean eighth inning, and Scott set down the next three Brewers, putting the finishing touches on a series win in a rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series.

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts turns a double play during a win Sunday in Milwaukee.

(Kayla Wolf / Ap Photo/kayla Wolf)

As Roberts reflected on the 7-2 road trip to Anaheim, San Diego and Milwaukee, he highlighted the bullpen’s impact: “There’s a lot of different guys that are the reason why they’ve been so successful recently.”

Entering the season, much of the chatter surrounding the bullpen centered on the addition of closer Edwin Díaz. But he’s been on the injured list (elbow surgery) since April 20, and the relief corps has been on a roll.

Without a closer, the Dodgers’ circle of trust in close games includes a good mix of veteran arms and budding talent, from Scott, Vesia and Blake Treinen to Hurt, Klein and Jack Dreyer (on the 15-day IL because of left shoulder discomfort).

“It’s a bunch of selfless guys who know that the job is to throw up a zero and give it to the next guy,” Klein said. “I think we’re all just trying to give our offense a chance to do what we know they can do. And I think that showed up last night, and it showed up a lot the last two weeks. They’ve been playing really well, and so I think we know if we just go out there, put up a zero, they’ll do it the next inning — and if they don’t, we try again.”

The bullpen’s scoreless streak stretches back through the eighth inning of a 6-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants on May 12. It covers a bullpen game, when the group filled in for Blake Snell after he was scratched from his start in Anaheim, and the series in San Diego, where the Dodgers relievers outperformed the Padres’ renowned bullpen.

“We’ve got to give credit to the starters and the hitters, and the guys playing great defense too,” Hurt said. “So, it’s not just us.”

Though good defense and some luck is involved in any scoreless streak this long — opponents entered Sunday with a .147 batting average on balls in play against Dodgers relievers since their shutout performance on May 13 — it’s no fluke either. The Dodgers bullpen still leads the majors in the Fielding Independent Pitching category (2.35) in that time.

So, what’s the secret stuff?

“The secret stuff is, there is no secret stuff,” Klein said. “Sometimes when you look for an answer, or you look for the magic to fix things, that’s when you overdo it and things start spiraling. But I think everyone knows that it’s one pitch at a time, and if you think about the result, you’re not as ingrained in the process.”

That was the moral in “Space Jam” too.

The ripple effects of that consistency have been clear.

“It frees up the offense a little bit,” Roberts said. “Regardless of who comes into a ballgame, I think they have the confidence now to go up and put up a zero. And it makes my life easier because you trust a lot more guys. And that’s what these guys have earned.”

Nick Kurtz had three hits and five RBIs, Brent Rooker and Zack Gelof homered and drove in three runs apiece as the Athletics beat the Angels 14-6 on Tuesday night.

The Athletics scored 12 of their runs with two out.

Kurtz, the reigning American League rookie of the year, sparked a six-run third inning with an RBI single, keyed a two-run sixth with a two-run single and added a two-run double in a four-run eighth.

Reliever Justin Sterner (2-3) escaped a first-and-third, two-out jam in the fourth and earned the win for the AL West-leading A’s, who snapped a three-game skid.

Mike Trout hit his 12th homer of the season, a solo shot, and finished with two RBIs for the last-place Angels, who have lost 22 of 28 games since an 11-10 start.

Angels starter Reid Detmers (1-5) was tagged for eight runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander retired seven straight batters to open the game, five by strikeout, before Jeff McNeil and Darell Hernaiz singled in the third.

Shea Langeliers flied out before Kurtz punched an RBI single to center to extend his on-base streak 42 games, the sixth-longest in franchise history. Colby Thomas followed with a two-run double, Rooker added an RBI single, Henry Bolte hit a ground-rule double, and Gelof had a two-run single for a 6-0 lead.

Trout led off the bottom of the third with his 43rd career homer against the A’s. That tied him with Rafael Palmeiro and Alex Rodriguez for the most since the A’s moved to California in 1968. Trout also scored his 600th Angel Stadium run on the play, the most in franchise history.

The Angels pulled within 6-4 in the fourth on Trout’s bases-loaded walk and Vaughn Grissom’s two-run single, which knocked A’s starter Jacob Lopez out of the game. But Sterner got Jorge Soler to fly out, ending the inning.

The A’s, who pounded out 15 hits, pulled away with eight runs over the final four innings, with Kurtz driving in four, Gelof hitting a solo homer in the seventh and Rooker a two-run shot in the eighth.

Ronny Mauricio hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning and the New York Mets rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Angels on Friday night in the opener of a nine-game trip.

The win — just the Mets’ fourth in their last 21 games — came a few hours after president of baseball operations David Stearns gave manager Carlos Mendoza a vote of confidence. New York has the majors’ worst record at 11-21.

Marcus Semien hit a tying two-run single in the Mets’ three-run sixth inning, which also included an RBI single by Francisco Alvarez. New York retired the final 21 Angels hitters.

Mets starter Christian Scott gave up three runs — two earned — and three hits in five innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. Huascar Brazobán (2-0) pitched a perfect sixth for the win, and Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams — who got his third save — finished up as Mets relievers combined for four hitless innings.

Jorge Soler hit a two-run homer for the Angels, who lost starter Walbert Ureña in the sixth inning when he was hit in the right leg by Bo Bichette’s comebacker. It was just the second hit for the Mets off Ureña, who hadn’t given up a run through five innings before the bullpen took over.

Alvarez singled against Brent Suter to score Bichette in the sixth. Two batters later, Semien tied it 3-3 with his two-run single off Chase Silseth.

Mauricio’s one-out homer in the seventh, with an exit velocity of 111.3 mph, came off José Fermin (0-1) and was his first of the season.

The Angels’ bullpen entered with a 5.66 ERA, second worst in the American League.

Up next: Mets RHP Nolan McLean (1-2, 2.55 ERA) enters Saturday’s middle game of the three-game series after allowing one unearned run in a loss to Colorado last Sunday. Angels LHP Reid Detmers (1-2, 4.28) is making the seventh start of his return to the rotation.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Cole Ragans struck out 11 in six sharp innings and Nick Loftin had a career-high four RBIs as the Kansas City Royals routed the Angels 12-1 on Saturday night.

Ragans (1-4) allowed one run and five hits. It was the 15th quality start this season for the Royals, who entered the day tied for second in the majors in that category.

The left-hander had runners on second and third with one out in the second but got consecutive strikeouts to end the inning. The lone blemish for Ragans was a solo home run by Jo Adell in the fourth.

Loftin had an RBI single, a two-run single and a bases-loaded walk. Salvador Perez went three for five with a solo homer and an RBI double.

Vinnie Pasquantino drew three walks, including one with the bases loaded. Royals batters were handed 10 free passes in all.

Michael Massey hit an RBI single to spark a three-run seventh. Carter Jensen hit a two-run single off infielder Adam Frazier in a four-run eighth.

Vaughn Grissom went three for four with a double for the Angels (12-16). Mike Trout had a hit in the eighth to extend his on-base streak against the Royals to 28 games.

Walbert Ureña (0-3) allowed four runs in 3⅔ innings with three strikeouts and a career-high five walks.

Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe exited in the eighth with left wrist irritation.

Kansas City (10-17) has won a series for the first time since the first one of the season.

Up next: Angels LHP Reid Detmers (1-2, 4.08 ERA) is scheduled to face RHP Seth Lugo (1-1, 1.15) in the series finale, the first Sunday night game at Kauffman Stadium since 2016.

NEW YORK — José Caballero laced a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the New York Yankees a 5-4 victory over the Angels, moments after the Angels botched an infield popup in a costly misplay Wednesday night.

Aaron Judge hit his third homer of the series and Trent Grisham had a two-run single for the Yankees, who won for only the second time in eight games after an 8-2 start.

Mike Trout hit his fourth homer in three games, putting the Angels ahead 4-3 with a two-run drive in the fifth.

That was still the score when Jazz Chisholm Jr. popped up to the left side with one out and nobody on in the ninth. But shortstop Zach Neto and ex-Yankees third baseman Oswald Peraza miscommunicated, and the ball dropped between them on the infield dirt for a gift single.

That came back to bite the Angels, who had played outstanding defense all night to that point.

Austin Wells worked a full-count walk against closer Jordan Romano (0-2), and both runners were attempting to steal when Caballero lined a 1-and-2 slider into left-center.

Chisholm easily scored the tying run and third-base coach Luis Rojas aggressively waved Wells home. The catcher barely beat Neto’s relay throw to the plate with a feet-first slide, and the safe call was confirmed after a replay review.