For the third night the Dodgers set themselves up for success, hearing the click, click, click as the rollercoaster rose to its apex. But thanks to Blake Snell and friends, there was no stomach-turning drop this time. It was Snell who was rolling, and he mostly coasted to a 5-0 win over the Phillies on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.
Okay, maybe it was a wee bit queasy in the seventh inning. That’s when Snell walked his first batter of the night with two outs in the frame, the first of two free
passes to bring the tying run to the plate up 3-0. Already at a season-high 107 pitches and reliever Alex Vesia ready to come in, Snell talked his way out of a hook from manager Dave Roberts.
Seemingly every call to the bullpen has been disastrous of late for the Dodgers, especially in this series, so it’s understandable given the context that Snell was allowed more leeway. Then Snell struck out Otto Kemp for his season-high 12th strikeout, walking off the mound to roars, both from the crowd and Snell himself.
A two-out single to left field by Bryson Stott in the third inning ended any sort of no-hitter watch earlier than usual of late — in five of the previous 10 games, the Dodgers starter (or Emmet Sheehan following in opener Monday) allowed no hits in at least their first five innings — but Snell still delivered an excellent start with those 12 strikeouts, having allowed only two singles and those two late walks. His seven innings tied a season high.
Snell has double-digit strikeouts in two starts in a row — the fifth time in his career he’s fanned at least 11 in consecutive starts, with a high of three straight games in 2023 — and a 34.1-percent strikeout rate in eight starts since returning from the injured list, to fuel his 2.53 ERA over that time.
Dodgers starters over the last 11 games have a minuscule 1.57 ERA with 89 strikeouts in 68 2/3 innings.
Freddie Freeman opened the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning off Jesús Luzardo, and the bottom of the lineup provided insurance after that.
Miguel Rojas and Andy Pages singled later in the second inning to put runners at the corners. Ben Rortvedt, starting behind the plate for the ninth time in the last 11 games, delivered a two-out single.
In the fourth inning, Pages walked and stole second base — he was 6-for-10 with three extra-base hits and four runs scored in this series — then Kiké Hernández singled him home, also with two outs.
Alex Vesia, who started to jog in from the bullpen as Snell was talking his way into staying into the game, instead entered in the eighth and retired all three batters he faced. Luzardo was still in the game to open the eighth, but Shohei Ohtani started the inning with a home run to center field, his second in as many nights and 51st of the season.
One more run in the eighth inning gave the Dodgers even more cushion, and Tanner Scott worked around a walk and single to complete the shutout, pitching his third scoreless outing in a row.
That kept the Dodgers two games up on the Padres in the National League West with 10 games remaining. The magic number for Los Angeles to clinch the division is down to eight.
Wednesday particulars
Home runs: Freddie Freeman (21), Shohei Ohtani (51)
WP — Blake Snell (5-4): 7 IP, 2 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
LP — Jesús Luzardo (14-7): 7+ IP, 6 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers have only one more regular season home series left at Dodger Stadium, with the Giants coming to town for four games beginning Thursday night (7:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network). Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts for the home team in the series opener, with Logan Webb on the mound for San Francisco making this a battle of All-Star pitchers.
