The Los Angeles Dodgers began an important series with the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium, but blew multiple leads that resulted in a 6-5 extra innings loss in the opener.
The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Kyle Schwarber blasted his 53rd homer of the season on a slider outside the zone. That came against Anthony Banda, who was working as the opener for Emmet Sheehan against the top of the order.
The Dodgers offense tied things up in the third inning when Andy Pages started out with a double and came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Mookie Betts.
Max Muncy started the fifth inning with a solo home run, his 18th of the season, that put the Dodgers up 2-1. Pages roped another double, but was thrown out trying to take third on a sacrifice bunt by Chuckie Robinson, who reached first.
Shohei Ohtani then doubled to put himself and Robinson in scoring position, and then Betts had another sacrifice fly to extend the Dodgers’ lead to two runs.
After Banda, Sheehan pitched the bulk of the game and got into the seventh inning before he allowed his first hit. He finished his outing with 5.2 innings with just one run allowed on one hit to go along with seven strikeouts and three walks.
Sheehan took the mound for the seventh inning and allowed a leadoff double before he was replaced by Jack Dreyer. The Phillies cut the Dodgers lead with an RBI single from Bryson Stott, with that run being charged to Sheehan.
Dreyer then allowed Weston Wilson to slug a two-run home run to put the Phillies back in the lead, 4-3.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Mookie Betts slugged his 19th homer of the season to tie the game, 4-4, and give him a three RBI night.
But once again, the lead changed and the Phillies answered as Bryce Harper blasted a homer against Alex Vesia in the eighth inning, giving them a 5-4 lead.
With one out in the ninth inning, the Dodgers tied the game up on a solo home run from Andy Pages against Jhoan Duran, one of the top closers in baseball and the Phillies’ key acquisition at the trade deadline.
Blake Treinen took the 10th inning and started by intentionally walking Bryce Harper to set up the double play. The Phillies then completed a double steal, and ended up taking a 6-5 lead on a sacrifice fly by J.T. Realmuto.
The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 10th with walks from Freddie Freeman and Alex Call. But the Dodgers were unable to tie it up as Miguel Rojas popped out and Muncy grounded out.
The Dodgers now trail the Phillies by 5.5 games for the second seed in the National League postseason picture. With their win, the Phillies clinched the NL East division title.
Mookie Betts won player of the week honor
Betts was named the NL Player of the Week from Sept. 8-14, after hitting .462 (12-for-26) with three doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI, three walks, seven runs scored, an .808 slugging percentage and a .517 on-base percentage across six games.
This is the sixth time Betts has been honored in his career as a Player of the Week and third as a member of the Dodgers. He previously won on Aug. 28, 2023 and Aug. 29, 2022. With the Boston Red Sox, Betts was named American League Player of the Week for June 21, 2015, May 14, 2017 and July 3, 2017.
With his latest honor, Betts becomes the 15th player since 1973 with at least three Player of the Week Awards in each league.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!