Steve Webb
Game 114, 8/6/2024: Dodgers 2, Phillies 6
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — Well, there’s good news and bad news. First, the good news. Starter Clayton Kershaw bounced back from a rough outing in San Diego and pitched a solid game, a very encouraging sign. The bad news: after rehabbing for most of the year, Brusdar Graterol came into the game in the sixth inning and suffered a leg injury after only eight pitches, which led to a crooked number for the Phillies en route to their 6-2 victory over the Dodgers on Tuesday night.
It was apparent almost immediately that Kershaw was on top of it in this one. He struck out the Phils’ leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber, thus recording more strikeouts than he did in his last start. And so it went for the first four innings: a lot of good curveballs, some well-placed fastballs, and good amound of swing-and-miss from the Phillies hitters. In those first four innings, Kersh only surrendered three singles. Things got a little dicey in the fifth though, and he just wasn’t able to work out of a jam.
After Austin Hays hit a one-out double, Kershaw had Brandon Marsh in an 0-2 hole, but hit him with a pitch, putting two men on. He struck out the number nine hitter Edmundo Sosa, but he had spend a lot of bullets to do so (nine pitches), so there wasn’t much left in the tank for Kyle Schwarber. Kershaw gave him a slider that caught a little too much of the plate and Schwarber muscled it into center field. Hays came around to score to put the Phillies on the board, and Kershaw’s night was over. Joe Kelly came in to limit the damage to just the one run, but the Dodgers were in a hole going into the back half of the game. Still, it was a good outing for Kershaw as he continues to work his way back from injury. His line for the night: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.
After a scoreless bottom of the fifth, the sixth inning proved to be the Dodgers’ undoing. Brusdar Graterol came into the game to work the inning, and everything seemed fine for the first few pitches. He got a harmless flyball from Bryce Harper to start his outing, and then Alec Bohm hit the next pitch into center for a single. Normal so far, right? Not so fast. On a 2-1 pitch to J.T. Realmuto, Graterol seemed to come up short and the ball sailed very high. It was clear that something was wrong. The training staff came out, and Brusdar had to be helped off the field. It did not look good at all. Later, it was revealed that it was a strain to the hamstring, so we’ll see how long that might take to heal up. Get well soon, Bazooka.
Brent Honeywell came in to try to clean up the inning, but the righty was unable to do so. He ended up walking Realmuto, and gave up run scoring singles to Nick Castellanos and then a two-run single to Edmundo Sosa. That put the Phillies up 4-0, and it was a lead that would hold up the rest of the night.
The Dodgers would make a game of it for a while. They got a run in the seventh on an RBI groundout from Will Smith, and then in the eighth, Teoscar Hernandez went yard for a solo shot to make it a two-run game. Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Dodgers would get. Edmundo Sosa struck again in the top of the ninth with a solo home run, and then Kyle Schwarber hit one of his tape-measure jobs off the foul pole to give the Phils a 6-2 advantage.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers got a double from Andy Pages, but nothing else, and the game ended with a 6-2 win for the Fightin’ Phils.
In spite of the loss, Dodger fans have to be feeling pretty good about what transpired in this one. To see Clayton Kershaw look more like his old self is very encouraging, and will be something he can build on when he makes his next start on the roadtrip. The Dodgers will try to win the series on Wednesday when they send Gavin Stone to the mound. He’ll be facing off against righty Tyler Phillips (3-1, 4.39 ERA). It’s going to be a 7:10 first pitch. See you there!
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