A rain delay that lasted one hour and 44 minutes stopped Max Scherzer and Aaron Nola in their tracks, and the Los Angeles Dodgers took advantage to start their road trip with a 5-0 victory that snapped the Philadelphia Phillies’ winning streak at eight games.
Nola struck out the side in the first inning and after a leadoff single in the second, got AJ Pollock swinging. Chris Taylor managed to put the ball in play, only for Ronald Torreyes to make an impressive stop at third base for the start of a double play.
Nola struck out the side again in the third inning and set the Dodgers down in order in the fourth. His effort wound up being squandered nearly instantly once the game was put in the hands of the Phillies’ bullpen.
Scherzer didn’t have the same number of strikeouts but was doing his part in the pitchers’ duel. Scherzer finished with six strikeouts in 3.1 scoreless innings before giving way to Alex Vesia after the rain delay.
Vesia stranded the inherited runner and was given a lead in the fifth inning thanks to a Corey Seager opposite-field home run. Seager’s line drive to left-center field had just enough carry to clear the wall for his first homer since coming off the 60-day injured list on July 30.
Seager finished the night 3-for-5 and a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.
After Vesia worked a scoreless fifth inning, the Dodgers added to their lead in the sixth behind Trea Turner’s dynamic speed. He led off the inning with a double and scored on Will Smith’s RBI single into right field that was 104 mph off the bat and come home on a strong throw by Bryce Harper.
AJ Pollock’s two-run single extended the Dodgers’ lead to 4-0 and was more than enough for their bullpen.
Fresh off the 60-day injured list, Corey Knebel did get into some trouble as a leadoff walk and infield single put two on with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth. However, he struck out Harper and J.T. Realmuto, and Justin Bruihl came on to end the inning.
Bruihl and Brusdar Graterol combined to work a scoreless seventh, Blake Treinen handled the eighth, and newcomer Conner Greene recorded the final three outs.
Dodgers might put Betts on IL
After not playing in the Freeway Series finale and getting an off day for another chance to rest and recover, Mookie Betts initially was in the lineup Tuesday. However, he wound up being scratched and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he may very well end up on the IL.
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