Wednesday’s matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park was interrupted by a 53-minute rain delay, marking a second consecutive night inclement weather factored into the series.
The rain was anticipated but it ultimately did not have an impact on David Price’s scheduled start. He began his outing with two consecutive scoreless innings and returned to the mound when play resumed in the third.
“I didn’t have a set time or anything. Just kept moving around, kept my arm going, threw the weighted balls down below and played catch with Barnesy in front of the dugout,” Price explained of how he stayed loose during the delay.
“I told them I was OK. The bullpen did a lot [Tuesday] so I needed to go out there and give us a couple more innings.”
The Dodgers’ bullpen had to pick up the load in the series opener against the Phillies as Max Scherzer only logged 3.1 innings pitched due to a rain delay that lasted one hour and 44 minutes.
Price pushed through to complete four innings, allowing two runs on five hits with one strikeout. “Alright,” Price said of his start. “I made pitches in the fourth inning and in the first when I had runners on. Whether the result was there or not, I still made my pitch.”
The two runs Price gave up in the fourth inning were a result of Trea Turner sailing the ball over Max Muncy’s head on what should’ve been an inning-ending double play.
The misplay did not wind up costing the Dodgers as they scored five runs over the final three innings to pull away for an 8-2 win. Prior to being removed from his start, Price helped his cause with an RBI double that extended L.A.’s lead to 3-0 in the fourth.
“That was pretty big,” Price said of his clutch hit. “I was walking up to the plate for my second at-bat and Doc was screaming at me to drive him in. That was really cool when I hit that.
“It didn’t feel as good as the one in L.A., but that was my first double and second RBI, so that was really cool.”
Roberts was close to taking Price out after rain delay
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed he nearly removed Price from the game after the rain delay. “We were close,” Roberts began
“I think when you’re getting past an hour for that night’s starting pitcher, that’s when you really got to waver. But David kept loose and we were just under it, so we felt good about it and most importantly David did.
“For him to come back out there and give us two more innings was huge. If he wouldn’t have done it, it might’ve been a different result.”
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