Phillies take 2/3 from the Dodgers in what may be an exciting October preview
Friday night was an electric evening at the ballpark. The two best teams in baseball squared off to battle it out on… an Apple TV exclusive; gross. The pitching was outstanding to watch as Yoshinobu Yamamoto was brilliant through six innings, allowing no earned runs and striking out five. The only run the Phillies scored on him was when Yammato made a poor throw to third that sailed past the third baseman and allowed Trea Turner to waltz on home. On the Phillies’ side, we were treated to a truly special outing from Jesũs Luzardo, who in his first game at home for the Phillies was nearly perfect. Seven innings, two hits, two walks, and eight Ks while allowing no runs.
Luzardo’s start to the season has been a wonderful addition to an already great pitching staff. In front of his family, Luzardo, a notoriously quiet guy, was visibly pumped up as the game trudged on and he continued to dominate the reigning champs. The Dodgers were without Freddie Freeman this weekend, but even then, this lineup of superstars was held in check by the former Marlin. As for the rest of the pitchers, the bullpen had a little bit of a shaky night. Strahm struggled to get outs in the 8th, but got bailed out by Ruiz. Then in the 9th, Romano again had a shaky outing as the Dodgers got their first two runs on Tommy Edman’s home run. Things got very sketchy as the Dodgers looked primed to tie the game, but a clutch strike’em out throw’em out ended the game.
Striek ‘Em Out, Throw ‘Em Out
The offense was again shaky, but enough. The Phillies’ first run, as discussed, came off some bad Dodger defense as after a Trea Turner double, he got caught in between second and third, but an abysmal Yamamoto throw to third went astray and the Phillies went up 1-0. It wasn’t until the bottom of the 7th, when Yamamoto was replaced by Kirby Yates, that the Phillies finally threatened again.
After a Kepler walk, Nick Castellanos hit a double down the left field line, which put runners on second and third with no outs. JT would strike out, but Bryson Stott would come through with a single to make the game 2-0, and then right after that Brandon Marsh would make the game 3-0 with a groundout. On a night once again highlighted by pitching and a riveting caught stealing, the offense was again, just enough.
Night Two
Saturday was a largely quiet game for both teams as the Dodgers won 3-1. Fittingly, the Phillies’ offense was the first team to struggle against the headcase that is Roki Sasaki as he managed to make it through three innings for the first time this year without allowing a run and striking out four. Aaron Nola also pitched okay, fighting through six innings of three-run ball despite scattering eight baserunners. He would be burned by the long ball again, as Enrique Hernández would go deep in the second to make it 2-1, and known Phillies killer Michael Conforto would hit another one to make it 3-1 in the sixth inning. Ultimately, while Nola could have pitched better, six innings of three run ball at home against the best team in baseball should be more than enough for your offense to overcome, especially when Joe Ross and Tanner Banks combined for three shutout innings of relief, but all the Phillies could manage was a Bohm RBI groundout in the first inning. Their only other noise was silenced in the 5th after some horrific base running by Bryson Stott allowed for a totally preventable double play to take place.
Night Three
As great pitching and anemic offense have continued to define the Phillies’ early season, Sunday would prove to be the complete opposite in what was easily the Phillies’ best game of the year so far. The Dodgers opened the scoring early when Teoscar Hernádez hit a 2 run bomb in the 1st inning. Cristopher Sánchez had a competent, but off day for him. 5.2 innings pitched in the cold and rainy weather. While he allowed 4 runs, he struck out 9, including Shohei Ohtani three times as Ohtani’s Philadelphia struggles continued. The Phillies being down early is nothing they aren’t used to, and as the rain began to pour over Citizens Bank Park, Tyler Glasnow began to struggle. He would start the 3rd by walking Marchán, Schwarber, and Turner in 3 straight at bats. With nowhere to put Bryce Harper, he would deposit a single to left that allowed Marchán to score. A wild pitch then allowed Schwarber to score, and in the process, a great at bat by Max Kepler led to a walk to load the bases. There would be an extended mound visit that led to a call to the bullpen that brought in Alex Vesia. An attempt that would prove futile as the very first pitch Nick Castellanos saw was deposited in the stands for a grand slam as the Phillies turned a 2-0 deficit into a 6-2 lead.
In the 4th, Teoscar would dot Sánchez up for yet another home run to make it 6-3. Hernádez would again be a nuisance as he would double to left to drive in Tommy Edman to make it 6-4 an inning later. José Ruiz would relieve Sánchez in the 6th and finish the inning. The Phillies throughout the day failed to add more runs other than that one inning, and as good teams do, the Dodgers kept chipping away. With one out in the 6th, the Phillies had runners on second and third with one out and managed to not score a single run. The wheels would come off in the 7th as Jordan Romano came out and blew up again. Romano has now had three outings where he has looked outright bad, marked by poor velocity, slow time to the plate, and bad location. Romano himself, after the game, said he wasn’t even sure what was wrong so far as he allowed 3 runs on 1 walk and 3 hits without recording an out. Kerkering did clean the inning up, but a run did score to give the Dodgers a 7-6 lead.
So that’s it, right? The Phillies scored 6 runs, and their pitching blew up. It feels like the offense did all it could. However, the Phillies would rally right back in the bottom of the 7th. Harper opened the 7th with a screaming line drive double to centerfield. Max Kepler would walk, and Bryson Stott would bring Harper home with a game-tying double. To top it off, it was early hero Edmundo Sosa legging out a potential double play ball that allowed Kepler to come home and bring the Phils the lead at 8-7. The Phillies were impressively disciplined, walking a stunning 11 times in the game. While the pitching was shaky throughout the day, they would not release the lead once they got it again as Matt Strahm and José Alvarado combined for six up and six down to give the Phillies the win and series victory.
Well, from the energy of the crowd and the play on the field, this was an October series in April. An early litmus test for both teams. One in which the Phillies came out on top. The Dodgers came to Philadelphia 8-0 and are leaving 9-2 after a slugfest of what early on appears to be the two best teams in baseball. The Dodgers, as stated, did not have Freddie Freeman in the lineup, but still, it was an early shot across the bow by the boys of Philadelphia. The Phillies’ rotation continues to be an immense highlight of the team, even with Sánchez and Nola not doing their best. The bullpen pitched well too, as the pitching staff as a whole held an offense averaging over 8 runs a game to 2.5 in the first two and closed the door as needed in the final game. It is certainly a championship-caliber group that will only strengthen as the season goes on and Ranger Suarez returns and Andrew Painter debuts. The bullpen is capable of hiccups at times, but largely has steered through any gigantic problems. It is far too early to make any real judgments as we’re so far away from October, but this was an incredibly exciting and promising weekend. After an off day, the Phillies will get another exciting series as they head down to Marietta, Georgia, where they will get to play a Braves team, desperate to right the ship after an historically bad start
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