Shohei Ohtani was brilliant and the Los Angeles Dodgers took an early lead, but their bullpen once again imploded, and they lost 9-6 to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Despite the poor outcome in this one for the Dodgers, things were going great early in the game. Alex Call started off the scoring in the second inning with a solo home run, and they added on two more runs when Kiké Hernández homered following a single from Andy Pages.
Hernández also drove in his third run of the game with a sacrifice fly that brought home Tommy Edman, who reached on a single and moved into scoring position on a single from Pages.
With a 4-0 lead, the Dodgers were cruising, and Ohtani was unhittable. Ohtani gave the Dodgers five shutout innings without allowing a hit, while also striking out five and walking one.
Ohtani made just 68 pitches through five innings, but he was still taken out of the game to start the sixth inning, which was the plan for him tonight.
Justin Wrobleski took over, and things immediately went sideways. Wrobleski allowed three straight singles to load the bases, and Bryce Harper drove in two runs with a double to cut the Dodgers’ lead in half.
Brandon Marsh then slugged a three-run homer that put the Phillies up 5-4 and ended Wrobleski’s night. Edgardo Henriquez took over and got them out of the inning, but not before allowing a solo home run to Max Kepler.
In total, the Phillies scored six runs in the inning, five of which were credited to Wrobleski, who recorded just one out.
The Dodgers added one run back on a solo homer by Ohtani in the eighth inning. That was also Ohtani’s 50th home run of the year, making him the sixth player in history to reach that mark in consecutive seasons, joining Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Babe Ruth.
L.A. went on to tie the game with the rally started off by a double from Teoscar Hernández. Freddie Freeman took a walk and Tommy Edman singled to load the bases, then Alex Call hit a sacrifice fly that knotted the game at 6-6.
Blake Treinen entered in the ninth inning and continued the bullpen implosion. He allowed a two-out double, then intentionally walked Bryston Stott after falling behind in the count, and then allowed a three-run homer to Rafael Marchán.
The Dodgers were shut down in the ninth by Jhoan Duran to close out the game.
Phillies clinch tiebreaker over Dodgers
With the loss, the Dodgers now look to avoid being swept on Wednesday as they continue to fight to clinch their playoff spot.
But more importantly for the Dodgers, by losing the series, the Phillies have secured the tiebreaker for the second seed in the National League over the Dodgers, and their magic number is just five games to clinch that.
Fortunately, the San Diego Padres also lost, so the Dodgers remain two games up in the NL West.
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