Cristopher Sánchez pitched six solid innings, and Edmundo Sosa and Kyle Schwarber hit back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night. This game featured a matchup between the top two teams in the National League.
During the seventh inning, a preliminary magnitude 5.3 earthquake hit near Mettler, California, about 89 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The Phillies’ announcers didn’t feel the quake in their booth, but it was noticed in the control truck and the Dodger Stadium press box. The crowd of 47,150 did not show any noticeable reaction. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he felt it in the dugout.
With this win, Philadelphia clinched the season series over the Dodgers, 4-1, ahead of the final game on Wednesday. “That can be huge coming down the stretch,” Thomson said.
Sánchez (8-7) gave up just one run and five hits, struck out two, and walked one, helping to end the Dodgers’ three-game winning streak.
“I was attacking the hitters early and I was throwing a lot of strikes,” Sánchez said through an interpreter. “They have a lot of good hitters, but all good hitters have their weak spot.”
Schwarber’s two-out RBI single in the fifth inning knocked Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw (0-2) out of the game and gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead. After Austin Hays’ double, Kershaw had an 0-2 count on Brandon Marsh before hitting him, which set up Schwarber’s hit.
In his third start of the season, Kershaw gave up one run and five hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and did not walk any batters.
“Just made some dumb mistakes. A couple guys got on base which shouldn’t happen,” Kershaw said. “Health-wise, I’m fine. It’s just a matter of trying to pitch good.”
Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol suffered a strained right hamstring that forced him out of the game in the sixth inning, just a day after coming off the 60-day injured list.
“It’s super sad,” Kershaw said. “Definitely a tough night.” The Phillies took advantage of Graterol’s replacement, Brent Honeywell.
They added three more runs in the sixth inning. Nick Castellanos had an RBI single, and Sosa hit a two-run single to make it 4-0. The Dodgers got their first run in the sixth inning with Will Smith’s RBI groundout.
Down 4-1 in the seventh inning, Shohei Ohtani came up with runners on first and second as the potential tying run. However, All-Star reliever Matt Strahm got him to fly out to right field, ending the inning.
Ohtani went 0 for 4. Strahm had also struck out Ohtani in the same inning during the Phillies’ three-game sweep of the Dodgers last month.
“You can just kind of feel a sense that he’s looking for my fastball up. I mean, that is my bread and butter and he’s very good at hitting those,” Strahm said. “I kind of went to my 1-B and tried to stick one down and away.”
Teoscar Hernández, the Home Run Derby champion last month, brought the Dodgers closer to 4-2 with his 25th homer off Jeff Hoffman in the eighth inning.
But Sosa hit a home run leading off the ninth inning on an 0-2 pitch from Honeywell, which landed in the lower right-field seats. Schwarber’s 24th home run hit the right field foul pole, extending the lead to 6-2.
“It was a complete win,” Thomson said. “Everyone in the lineup got on base. We played well defensively.”
In the seventh inning, Dodgers right fielder Andy Pages made a key defensive play. He caught J.T. Realmuto’s fly ball and threw to third base, where Kiké Hernández tagged out a sliding Bryce Harper to finish the inning with a double play. The Phillies lost their challenge of the call.
