PHILADELPHIA – The Phillies celebrated mudders’ day in Philadelphia Sunday.
On a cold and dreary afternoon, the Dodgers fell behind 6-2 in the third inning, came back on the strength of a five-RBI day from Teoscar Hernandez to take a late lead but their bullpen couldn’t hold it, losing to the Phillies, 8-7.
The Phillies took two of three in the soldout weekend series, handing the Dodgers their first two losses of the season, both in one-run games.
The Dodgers starter on the soggy spring afternoon, Tyler Glasnow, was clearly uncomfortable when a light rain picked up during the third inning. The tall right-hander repeatedly kicked at the pad on the back of the pitcher’s mound to clean mud out of his cleats and everything about his body language made it clear he wasn’t enjoying the East Coast elements.
He walked the first three batters he faced in the third to load the bases with no outs. Bryce Harper drove in one run with a soft single to left field and another scored on a wild pitch by Glasnow.
After another walk, re-loaded the bases, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Glasnow. He had thrown 60 pitches, hit the strike zone with fewer than half (28) and failed to retire any of the five hitters he faced in that third inning.
Lefty reliever Alex Vesia replaced him and Nick Castellanos launched his first pitch into the left-field seats for a grand slam that gave the Phillies a 6-2 lead.
The only ray of sunshine on the cloudy day for the Dodgers to that point was Hernandez. He drove in all four of their runs, hitting a two-run home run in the first inning, a solo homer in the fourth, and a double in the fifth to drive in another run.
While Hernandez was 3 for 3 against Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez, the rest of the Dodgers were 3 for 23 with nine strikeouts – including three strikeouts in three at-bats by Shohei Ohtani. The Phillies pitchers handled the National League’s reigning MVP in the three-game series, holding him to 1 for 11.
But Hernandez had kept them close and Phillies reliever Jordan Romano gave up a leadoff single to Andy Pages in the seventh and walked Ohtani. Mookie Betts doubled to drive in one run and Hernandez’s sacrifice fly tied the game with his fifth RBI of the afternoon. When Will Smith doubled high off the wall in right field, the go-ahead run scored.
The conditions had improved by then with temperatures in the 50s but the rain passed. But Blake Treinen looked vulnerable from the start of his inning.
Bryce Harper ripped a double to straightaway center field, the 107.4 mph drive over his head completely discombobulating Pages who turned the wrong one and was nowhere near the ball went it landed.
After Treinen walked Max Kepler, he got Nick Castellanos to fly out but Bryson Stott singled over second baseman Tommy Edman’s outstretched glove to drive in the tying run. Edmundo Sosa hit a hard ground ball to Max Muncy but Edman’s throw to first base was in the dirt, Sosa just beating it out to avoid an inning-ending double play. That allowed the go-ahead run to score.