The Phillies finish their trip out west in Los Angeles. Remember last article when I said the Phillies needed to bring their bats this trip? They did just that this series. Let’s recap the series, shall we?
Game One
Another game, another typical Phillies blown lead. This time is different though, because we actually won the game!
The game started with Bryce Harper doing what Bryce Harper does: hit dingers. He was not kind to this ball as he smacks it 405 feet to give us a 1-0 lead. The second inning on both sides was kind to our Phillies with Schwarber getting an RBI single to make it 2-0, then Johan Camargo blasting a two-run home run right after to make it 4-0.The third inning saw Bellinger hit a home run to make it 4-1.
In the fourth inning, Segura scored on an error to make it 5-1. Another inning, another Phillies run? Yes! JT Realmuto scores on a sac-fly by Schwarber to make it 7-1. The score is 7-1, they can’t possibly blow yet another six-run, late-inning lead, right? Wrong! Dodgers play small ball and Girardi keeps Alvarado in entirely too long, which combined makes the score tied in the 8th. Here comes the 9th inning where Herrera scores on a wild pitch that moves Bohm to third and to make the game 8-7 with one out. Bryce comes up to bat next and does his job perfectly. He hits a sac-fly to bring in Bohm and make the game 9-7. Knebel gets put in to shut the Dodgers down and end the game only to scare the living daylights out of us. He loads the bases with no outs by allowing a single and two walks, then immediately gets the next three batters out to end the game. The unfortunate part about this game is Wheeler didn’t get the win. Alvarado not only blew the lead, but stole the win in the process.
Game Two
I stayed up for this entire game and I don’t regret it one bit. Would it be a Phillies game if there weren’t ten thousand blown leads with about 5 heart attacks? I don’t think so, either.
The bats got going in the second inning behind a Rhys Hoskins 2 RBI single into left field. The third inning was far from ideal for the Phillies as Chris Taylor homered, Mookie Betts doubled for an RBI, Max Muncy singled for an RBI, and Justin Turner doubled for an RBI. That’s five total runs in the inning to make the game 5-2. The fourth inning brought two Phillies runs with a Stott single and Schwarber home run, but it also brought an Austin Barnes RBI single to make the score 6-5 for the Dodgers.
The sixth inning was a very enjoyable inning for the Phillies as Bohm hit a sac-fly, Harper doubled, and Castellanos singled to give the Phillies the lead 8-6. Trea Turner was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning, which made the score 8-7. Harper then blasted a home run in the top of the eighth to make the score 9-7. Everything looked fine and dandy until Justin Turner smacked a no-doubt two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to make the game tied 9-9. The tenth inning belonged to none other than Nick Castellanos as he doubled to bring Harper in (thank you, tenth inning rule). Castellanos then scored on a throwing error to make the score 12-9. Rookie pitcher Francisco Morales was asked to notch his first save against the Dodgers. He let things get interesting by allowing a run, but he pulled it off. The umpires were very iffy and a missed call definitely helped us, but let’s just say he really wanted to go home with that kind of call.
Game Three
What a game to watch. With Urias on the mound, we would need a strong outing from our guy Ranger Suarez. Not only did Ranger have a great game, but ball went boom.
The first inning was beautiful with Segura blasting a three-run home run to give the Phils a 3-0 lead. I thought this would be a close game with Mookie Betts hitting a home run in the bottom of the first, but the Dodgers never saw the lead. In the third, Bryce Harper hit a three-run home run only 420 feet to make the lead 6-1. Kyle Schwarber started the fourth inning with a home run to make it 7-1, then Rhys Hoskins thankfully followed two batters later to make the game 8-1 to avoid that dreaded 7-1 Phillies lead that we seem to blow every time. The bottom of the fourth inning was a little scary as Cody Bellinger had a two-run RBI, but it ended up being okay. Connor Brogdon gets sent in to pitch in the ninth inning and closes things out with virtually no issue. Thankfully, this game ended a full hour earlier than the previous game, so more sleep was able to be had.
Game Four
Finally, a day game! The Phillies looked to do the improbable: sweep the Dodgers in a four-game series. Unfortunately, the Phillies bullpen had to come in and ruin not only Nola’s gem of a game, but blow the game with one more strike needed.
The second inning is when things started for our offense. A fielding error brought Segura home. After that, Stubbs hit a ground rule double to make the game 2-0. Hoskins made the score 4-0 with a two RBI single. Unfortunately, that’s the last time the offense contributed to the Nola gem and that ended up being costly. Betts homered in the third inning, then in the fourth, Muncy singled to make the game 4-2. Betts then scores in the eighth to bring the Dodgers within one.
Corey Knebel gets put in to start the ninth. It looked good to start as he got two quick outs, but a Cody Bellinger triple (because of course it’s him) started their rally. Gavin Lux hits the ball to deep right field with two runners on, which is all they needed to win the game.
Another Nola gem, another blown lead. This is more about the Dodgers offense being good than it is about Knebel truly blowing the lead. There were some calls that didn’t go our way,
Yes, we certainly wanted a series sweep, and it certainly is frustrating that we were so close, but this was an amazing series and amazing trip out west. They’re back home in Philadelphia Tuesday against the Padres. Ring Smash the bell and go Phillies.
