By late Saturday night, the story was the Los Angeles Dodgers’ back-to-back-to-back home runs and walk-off win against the Philadelphia Phillies. Heading into the matchup, Brandon McCarthy was very much a focal point.
In his first full season since undergoing Tommy John surgery, McCarthy entered an impressive 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA in four starts. McCarthy threw seven innings in his previous game, which was his longest outing since April 13, 2015.
However, the veteran right-hander failed to build on that against the Phillies. “Curveball command, cutter command, everything was a C minus tonight,” McCarthy said.
“Not enough to get destroyed but not enough to get deep enough into a game the way I’d like to.” He allowed four runs on eight hits, including a three-run homer, in five innings.
“I just didn’t feel great, it was kind of a battle from the get-go,” McCarthy added. “I would’ve liked to have done a better job in run prevention. A couple pitches here and there got blooped in, and a couple pitches that weren’t really good made it an inconsistent night.”
The 33-year-old didn’t factor into the decision, and his ERA rose slightly to 3.10. McCarthy’s ERA to begin the night led all Dodgers starting pitchers.
“McCarthy has thrown really well for us all year long,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Didn’t have his best outing, but we picked him up tonight, as he’s done for us.”
