Down four runs and being no-hit through five innings a night after their division-clinching celebration, the Philadelphia Phillies (91-61) could have been forgiven for popping some Excedrin and punting to Wednesday for the attempted series victory, but they again showed why they are on the short list of World Series contenders with a gutsy 9-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers (84-67) on Tuesday night.
Shohei Ohtani was dialed in on both sides of the engagement with five hitless innings pitched
and two hits, including a solo home run.
Cristopher Sanchez allowed two home runs in the second inning, his first in 53 innings pitched to stake the Dodgers to an early 3-0 lead. He would concede a pair of singles and a sac fly in the fourth to make it 4-0.
But Dave Roberts continued the questionable deployment of his pitching staff by removing Ohtani at 68 pitches in the top of the sixth in favor of lefty, Justin Wrobleski, to face the bottom of the Phillies’ order. After a groundout by Bryson Stott, the Phillies ripped off three singles, a double, two homers (Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler) and a walk before Roberts’ pulled the plug. 6-4 Phils.
Despite the early adversity, Sanchez stayed in the game through the seventh inning, retiring the last seven batters he faced in order.
David Robertson gave up the homer to Ohtani to bring the margin within one and was on the hook for the die after giving up a double to Teoscar Hernandez, who scored on a sacrifice fly allowed by Tanner Banks three batters later.
Blake Treinen took the ninth inning assignment for the Dodgers and quickly got two outs on five pitches. Weston Wilson continued his hot turn with a ground rule double, the Dodgers opted to intentionally walk Stott with two outs and the open base, and Rafael Marchan did the unthinkable.
Jhoan slammed the door to secure the series and season series victory over the Dodgers, meaning the Phillies magic number for a top two seed in the National League and a Wild Card-bye is down to four. They are a game and a half behind Milwaukee for the number one overall seed in the NL.
The series’ wrap-up is scheduled for tomorrow night as Jesus Luzardo is slated to face Blake Snell.
