Brandon Marsh hit a home run and an RBI triple, Trea Turner smashed his sixth homer in nine games, and the Philadelphia Phillies finished a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 5-1 win on Thursday night.
Aaron Nola (11-4) struck out nine batters over six innings, and Kyle Schwarber also homered for the Phillies. This sweep was the first time Philadelphia had swept the Dodgers since 2011, and the first time at home since 2008. The Dodgers have now lost four consecutive games and eight of their last 12 overall.
“Nola has been outstanding,” remarked Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “He’s been very consistent. Tonight’s game was a perfect example. He faced trouble in the first two innings, including a bases-loaded situation in the second where he struck out Shohei Ohtani and induced a ground ball from Will Smith to escape. As the game progressed, he only got better.
He’s been terrific all season.”
In a series between the top two teams in the National League, the Phillies led in every inning except the first of the series opener, where both teams were scoreless. Over the three games, they outscored the Dodgers 19-5.
“We definitely approach games like this differently,” said Marsh. “It’s a big challenge for us to gauge our capabilities, and I think we handled it well.”
Marsh hit a home run in the second inning and followed it up with a triple in the sixth inning off Landon Knack, driving in Nick Castellanos to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead. Marsh has a .304 batting average this season with all nine of his home runs coming against right-handed pitchers.
“I’ve learned from watching Castellanos,” Marsh said. “It’s about simplifying things: see the ball, hit the ball. Overcomplicating things doesn’t help. It’s already tough enough. Trust the preparation and stick with it.”
Turner started the game with a solo home run off Dodgers opener Anthony Banda in the first inning and added an infield single in the fourth. Since returning from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for 38 games, Turner has been hitting .356 with 11 games where he has had multiple hits in the 21 games he’s played.
