Tommy Edman’s ninth inning home run brought them within a run of the lead, but the Dodgers fell short in the 3-2 loss to the Phillies Friday night.
Six of the eight wins for the Dodgers (8-0) this season were comeback wins. After a historic 8-0 start, there was no epic comeback at Citizen Banks Park for the Dodgers this time. The Phillies (5-1) snapped the Dodgers win streak with a 3-2 victory over the World Series champs for their first loss of the season.
Three baserunning mistakes, one each by Andy Pages, Shohei Ohtani and Chris Taylor proved costly.
Old friend Trea Turner manufactured a first-inning run against a flustered Yamamoto to give the Phillies an early 1-0 lead. Turner roped a one-out double past a diving Miguel Rojas at third base to begin the scoring sequence. Yamamoto threw the ball away after he saw Turner break for third base, and Turner came in to score on the error.
Jesús Luzardo was welcomed by Phillies fans and deservedly so after he pitched a seven-inning gem for the home crowd. The new Phillies pitcher kept Dodgers hitters off balance and expanded the zone well. Teoscar Hernández’s second-inning single was the Dodgers only hit and base runner through the first three innings.
It was quite the pitchers’ duel. The Phillies were unable to do zilch against Yamamoto’s nasty splitter.
Luzardo retired 13 straight batters before he walked Andy Pages in the sixth. With base runners at a premium with Luzardo on the mound, it was that much more frustrating when Pages was caught stealing second.
In the top of the seventh, Teoscar Hernández doubled to right field past a diving Nick Castellanos. Will Smith drew a walk to give the Dodgers their biggest threat of the night with two base runners with two outs against Luzardo. The other Hernandez, Enrique, wasn’t able to cash in and struck out against Luzardo’s slider.
Kirby Yates came in out of the Dodgers bullpen to relieve Yamamoto in the home half of the seventh, and he immediately put himself in hot water with a leadoff walk to Max Kepler. Castellanos hit a big double off Yates to give the Phillies a prime scoring opportunity with runners at second and third with nobody out.
Bryson Stott got the job done with an RBI single past Mookie Betts to extend Philly’s lead. The second run came in on a scoring groundout to make it 3-0 in favor of the home team.
Dave Roberts had seen enough of Yates. He went to Luis García who struck Turner out with his sweeper to strand the two base runners and stop the Phillies from piling on more runs.
The Dodgers brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth after a two-out Shohei Ohtani hit against Matt Strahm. In a rare sighting, Ohtani was thrown out stealing second. J.T. Realmuto showed off his arm and shut the door on the Dodgers’ offense.
The Dodgers nearly scratched back for another trademark comeback win after Tommy Edman hit a two-run home run off Philly reliever Jordan Romano.
It was fitting the game ended on some more poor baserunning. The Dodgers’ third out on the bases tonight ended the game after a replay review on the tag at second. Chris Taylor, pinch-runner, got caught trying to steal second base while Muncy struck out at the plate.
Friday particulars
Home runs: Tommy Edman (5)
WP — Jesús Luzardo (2-0): 7 IP, 2 hits, no runs, 8 strikeouts, 2 walks
LP — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-1): 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 5 strikeouts, 3 walks
S — Jordan Romano (1)
Up next
Roki Sasaki (0-0, 5 K, 9 BB, 4 ⅔ IP), makes his third start of the season on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia (1:05 p.m. PT, Apple TV+). The 23-year old will face veteran Aaron Nola (0-1, 8.44 ERA, 14 2⁄3 IP).