Chase Utley received a standing ovation during lineup introductions and again for his first at-bat, but the night was otherwise a disappointment for the Philadelphia Phillies as they erased a deficit but squandered their own lead and fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6.
The win was the Dodgers’ third in four games since the All-Star break, and 13th in 18 games during July.
They jumped out to an early lead at Citizens Bank Park, thanks to Max Muncy and Yasmani Grandal connecting on back-to-back solo home runs in the first inning. Chris Taylor took Zach Eflin deep in the second inning, and Joc Pederson lined a solo homer into right-center field in the fourth.
Eflin’s outing was similar to a May 30 start at Dodger Stadium, when he allowed five runs on seven hits, including two home runs, in just four innings of work. Eflin was chased Monday night with two outs in the third innings.
The Phillies also used the long ball to do their damage against Ross Stripling, beginning with Maikel Franco’s solo homer in the second inning. Philadelphia next had a look at the game in the fifth, behind Jorge Alfaro’s single and Jesmuel Valentin’s double.
Stripling nearly escaped the jam as he struck out Carlos Santana, but he then let a curveball to Rhys Hoskins catch too much of the plate, resulting in a game-tying three-run home run. It marked Hoskins’ third consecutive game with a homer.
Odubel Herrera made it back-to-back home runs, giving the Phillies a 5-4 lead and knocking Stripling out of the game. Much like his start before the All-Star break, Stripling was hardly sharp.
Had Cody Bellinger not made a couple impressive catches deep in the outfield, it’s plausible the Phillies would have gotten more off Stripling. Whereas Zac Rosscup, J.T. Chargois, Daniel Hudson and Scott Alexander combined for scoreless work, the Phillies’ bullpen struggled, particularly in the late innings.
Manny Machado single-handedly tied the game by hitting a one-out triple in the seventh and then aggressively tagging on a fly ball to shallow center field. Tasked with keeping the game tied in the ninth, Seranthony Dominiguez came unraveled.
Pinch-hitter Alex Verdugo worked a terrific plate appearance the ended with a leadoff walk, and Pederson similarly hung tough before slapping a single into left field. After walking Muncy to load the bases, Dominguez uncorked a wild pitch.
Luis Garcia then took over, only to allow an RBI single to Matt Kemp before working his way out of the inning. That proved key as Kenley Jansen surrendered a leadoff home run to Franco.
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