LOS ANGELES — Seven years and a plethora of minor league bombs in the making, Ryan Ward finally can tell the story of his first big fly in the majors.
The left-handed hitting masher went deep into the bullpen in right field, helping the Dodgers to a 9-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies and a fifth consecutive series win.
Ward was not the only Dodgers rookie to go deep. Two batters later in the fourth inning, Alex Freeland also hit a home run as the bottom of the order ruled the day. Max Muncy also hit a late homer with the game well in hand.
Ward made his major league debut last month when he saw action in a pair of games at Colorado. He was recalled Friday when Teoscar Hernandez (hamstring) went on the injured list and was playing in his first career game at Dodger Stadium.
The long-ball output was more than enough for right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who matched a career high with 10 strikeouts over 5⅓ scoreless innings. Yamamoto (5-4) earned a win in consecutive starts for the first time this season.
Ward’s road to Sunday’s moment was long in both time and distance traveled in home runs. The 28-year-old has gone deep 156 times in his seven minor league seasons after he was an eighth-round draft pick in 2019 out of Bryant University in Rhode Island.
Last season alone, Ward hit 36 home runs with 122 RBIs at Triple-A Oklahoma City and was named the Pacific Coast League MVP. Ward led the minor leagues last season in home runs, RBIs, extra-base hits (73) and total bases (315).
Expected to split time in left field with Alex Call until Hernandez returns, Ward’s spot in the lineup came with Phillies right-hander Andrew Painter on the mound.
Freeland was actually the first to get to Painter on the day when he doubled in a run for a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The Dodgers made it 2-0 in the third inning when Kyle Tucker singled off the first-base bag to score Freddie Freeman.
Ward started the homer theatrics with a leadoff home run in the fourth on an 87-mph slider from Painter. His blast had an exit velocity of 108 mph and was estimated to travel 400 feet.
Freeland’s home run just inside the right-field foul pole was modest by comparison at 97 mph off the bat and 344 feet. His third of the season knocked Painter from the game as the rookie finished with a career-low 3⅓ innings.
Call assumed Ward’s spot in the order as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning and delivered a two-run single for a 6-0 lead.
Yamamoto did not allow a hit over the first three innings. He left two aboard in the fourth and had runners on second and third with one out in the fifth before he struck out Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner. Schwarber struck out all three times he faced Yamamoto.
Yamamoto left to a standing ovation after he struck out Brandon Marsh in the sixth.
The Dodgers’ offense continued to deliver in the sixth on a pop-up triple down the right-field line by Pages and a sacrifice fly from Freddie Freeman. Muncy added his solo home run in the seventh and Freeman had another sacrifice fly in the eighth.
The Phillies’ Bryson Stott ended the Dodgers’ shutout bid with a home run in the ninth inning against Jonathan Hernandez.