The Los Angeles Dodgers hosted the Philadelphia Phillies in a battle between two teams that have been scuffling as of late, but also the top-two clubs in the National League.
Both teams had one of their aces on the mound, with the Dodgers starting Tyler Glasnow while Aaron Nola went for the Phillies. However, it was the home run ball that proved to be the difference in the 5-3 victory for the Dodgers.
Things started out poorly for the Dodgers when the Phillies took the lead in the second inning. Nick Castellanos tripled when Andy Pages misplayed a ball in center field, and he ended up scoring when Bryson Stott hit an infield single back to Glasnow.
Another single put runners on second and third before Glasnow made a wild pitch to make it a 2-0 Phillies’ lead before he struck out Garrett Stubbs to end the inning.
From there, Glasnow went on to pitch three perfect innings, along with a perfect first inning, before he ran into some trouble in the sixth inning. Kyle Schwarber hit a leadoff single before Bryce Harper doubled to put two on base, and the Phillies added another run on a groundout from Alec Bohm.
Glasnow stopped the damage there, finishing his night with six innings pitched, allowing three runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and no walks.
For the Dodgers, they got on the board in the third inning with back-to-back doubles from Jason Heyward and Andy Pages against Aaron Nola. Nick Ahmed then singled to put runners at the corners with no one out.
Shohei Ohtani tied the game with a sacrifice fly before Teoscar Hernández hit his 24th homer of the season to put the Dodgers ahead 4-2.
Ohtani also added a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Dodgers some insurance, extending their lead to 5-3.
Michael Kopech worked a perfect seventh while Anthony Banda picked up a hold in the eighth, escaping a jam with two runners on. Daniel Hudson picked up the save in the ninth.
Freddie Freeman returns to Dodgers
Prior to the game, Freddie Freeman was activated off the restricted list. He has been out since July 26 due to his son, Maximus, being in the hospital with a severe case of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder.
Freeman addressed the media before the game with an emotional press conference detailing everything that has gone on over the past week and why he felt it was the right time to return now.
Freeman was greeted by fans in his first at-bat with a loud and prolonged standing ovation as he acknowledged them by raising his hand and tapping his heart. Battling the emotions of the moment and with tears in his eyes, Freeman took a deep breath and stepped into the batter’s box for his first at-bat back.
He ended up striking out, which was unsurprising after missing so much time, but in his next at-bat, Freeman roped a single into left field.
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