LOS ANGELES -- Trailing by a run and behind 0-and-2 in the count was not a good place to be in the eighth inning Sunday afternoon. But Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez likes where the Dodgers are now that the All-Star break has arrived.

"Four-and-a-half games up. Twelve games over .500," Gonzalez said. "How can you not be pleased with that?"

The Dodgers got there because Gonzalez's two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning gave them a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Dodgers took two of three in the weekend series, reaching the break with that 4 1/2-game lead in the National League West and a 51-39 record, matching their season high at 12 games over .500.

In both wins over the Brewers, the Dodgers had to come from behind late in the game. They are 9-26 this season in games they trailed after six innings. A year ago, they went 2-54 in those situations.

"You like to think there's something to it from the standpoint of your guys keep playing, hanging in there and the pitching does the same. So you hope it's not an aberration," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said of the difference in those numbers. "Last year, I don't think we came back hardly at all ever and it didn't seem very competitive if we got behind. It seemed quick.

"You hope it says something to the character of your club, that they're a club that's not going to just roll over. They're a club that's going to keep having good at-bats for you, hanging in there and try to find a way to win. That's what you hope."

The Brewers forced the Dodgers into come-from-behind mode this weekend with good starting pitching. The Brewers' three starting pitchers in the series -- Jimmy Nelson, Taylor Jungmann and Kyle Lohse -- combined to allow just three earned runs on 12 hits over 21 innings. The Brewers' first loss in the series came on Friday night when the Dodgers scored three unearned runs in the seventh inning.

Lohse went five strong innings Sunday, allowing just two runs on four hits (including a solo home run by A.J. Ellis).

The Brewers did their scoring early against Dodgers starter Brett Anderson.

Added to the National League All-Star roster to replace injured Matt Holliday before the game, Ryan Braun drove a home run into the right-field stands in his first at-bat. Two innings later, Anderson gave up another solo home run, this one to No. 8 hitter Hernan Perez. It was Perez's first major-league home run.

In the fourth, the Brewers strung together three consecutive singles from first baseman Adam Lind, third baseman Aramis Ramirez and shortstop Jean Segura to load the bases with no outs but could scratch out just one run when the next three hitters each hit weak ground balls.

Segura's hit was the Brewers' seventh in the first four innings against Anderson. The Dodgers left-hander allowed just one more in his seven innings and the Brewers went to work, trying to make the one-run lead stand up.

"We had the matchups we wanted late in the game and we had our guys pitching to who we wanted to pitch to, so it worked as good as we could have hoped," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.

It stopped working out in the eighth inning when second baseman Howie Kendrick led off the eighth inning with a single and advanced to second when center fielder Carlos Gomez misplayed the ball.

Left-hander Will Smith came in to face Gonzalez and threw four consecutive sliders in the lefty-vs-lefty matchup. Gonzalez took the first one for a strike and fouled off the next one to fall behind 0-and-2.

"After a few, you think you may get a fastball," Gonzalez said. "You just take a two-strike approach and try to make sure you don't strike out. At the worst, my mentality was to get the guy over."

Gonzalez fouled off Smith's third consecutive slider. Then the reliever hung one and Gonzalez sent it over the wall in right field for the decisive home run.

"I left an 0-2 pitch up to a good hitter. You can't do that to a guy like that," Smith said. "He's a big strong guy. There's a reason why he's been an established hitter for so long. We weren't going to walk him there.

"It's tough to go into the All-Star break with a bad taste in your mouth. You've got to get the job done, and I didn't do it today."

NOTES: Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw was named to the National League All-Star Game as a replacement for Nationals RHP Max Scherzer, who pitched on Sunday. It is Kershaw's fifth consecutive All-Star selection. ... Dodgers OF Joc Pederson has been named to the NL's starting lineup for the All-Star Game as a replacement for injured Cardinals OF Matt Holliday, who will miss the game due to an injury. Pederson is the first Dodgers rookie position player to start an All-Star Game. He will also participate in the Home Run Derby on Monday. ... The Dodgers have five players on the All-Star team (Kershaw, Pederson, Zack Greinke, Yasmani Grandal and Adrian Gonzalez) for the first time since 1995 (Hideo Nomo, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Jose Offerman and Todd Worrell). ... Brewers OF Ryan Braun was added to the NL All-Star team as a reserve, taking the roster spot vacated by Holliday. It is Braun's sixth All-Star selection but first since 2012. He was suspended in 2013 for violating baseball's policy against performance-enhancing substances.