LOS ANGELES – There certainly was a built-in excuse for the Phillies’ play against the Dodgers on Tuesday, a day after they clinched their second consecutive National League East title. After all, there were candles lit in the clubhouse before the game to try and help smother the smell of many celebratory beers and cigars.
If there were any lingering cobwebs from the previous night’s fun, no one around the Phillies was going to admit as much, and maybe being no-hit in the first five innings was just a coincidence. Or perhaps the better reasoning was that Shohei Ohtani was on the mound.
Excuses weren’t needed as the Phillies, again, came back from an early deficit and defeated the Dodgers, 9-6. Backup catcher Rafael Marchan blasted a three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning for the thrilling win. The Phillies improved to 91-61, their first time being 30 games over .500 this season.
“He had good at-bats all night,” said manager Rob Thomson of Marchan. “He’s done a great job for us all year. He plays once every fifth day, once every sixth day and as prepared as he is not only behind the plate but offensively, too. He’s just done a fabulous job. Really has.”
When Ohtani was removed after his five innings, either the espresso that was so popular in the clubhouse before the game kicked in or this resilient bunch just showed their true colors of late as they erupted for six runs in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead.
“We thought that he was pretty good,” Thomson deadpanned about Ohtani. “Seeing the shapes of his pitches, just seeing it live, it should help a little bit (should there be a playoff meeting).”
The long ball hurt Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez early as the Dodgers plated three in the second inning on a solo home run by Alex Call and then a two-run shot by Kike Hernandez. They added another run in the fourth on singles by Tommy Edman and Andy Pages before a sacrifice fly by Hernandez.
Sanchez, whom manager Thomson said would be his Game 1 playoff starter, wasn’t at his sharpest but typical of everyone on the team lately, battled through.
“I feel great for him,” said Sanchez of Marchan. “He’s a tremendous catcher. The only thing is he’s backing up J.T. right now, but he’s a tremendous catcher. I’m just really happy that he’s showing out for the team.
“I felt good today. I was attacking the hitters and I was throwing strikes. The only bad thing about it was maybe they got me with a couple of pitches that I left in the zone, but I felt good overall and we got the win, which is the most important thing.”
Marchan broke the no-hit seal for the Phillies in the sixth and then the flood gates opened. Harrison Bader and Kyle Schwarber followed with singles to load the bases off Dodgers reliever Justin Wrobleski. Bryce Harper then doubled, scoring two, before Brandon Marsh obliterated a slider into the right-center seats for a 5-4 lead. Edgardo Henriquez replaced Wrobleski and gave up a home run to Max Kepler down the rightfield line as the Phillies batted around in the inning.
With a two-run lead and having already thrown 89 pitches, Thomson sent Sanchez out for the seventh inning in what could be his last normal workload before the playoffs. He easily shut down the Dodgers in that frame and finished his night with 102 pitches, 75 of them strikes and allowed seven hits, four earned runs and struck out six to improve to 14-5 on the year.
“He’s going to have one more start, maybe two,” said Thomson of Sanchez. “Our pen was a little bit light today, so we pushed him a little bit further than we normally do. In the sixth he was really good and he was 96, 97 in the seventh. The one thing early in the game, everything seemed to be leaking back to the middle of the plate on right-handed hitters and they had some pretty good swings. He grinded and he did a great job.”
Ohtani led off the eighth with a home run to right off David Robertson that completely left the stadium. Teoscar Hernandez chased Robertson after he doubled. Tanner Banks then gave up a walk to Freddie Freeman and a single to Tommy Edman to load the bases. Alex Call hit a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game.
In the ninth, Weston Wilson laced a two-out double to left off Blake Treinen. Bryson Stott was then intentionally walked before Marchan smashed a 3-1 pitch just over the short fence and into the Phillies bullpen for the deciding runs.
“We knew if we could keep the score close (against Ohtani) then we’d have a chance,” said Marchan. “I was excited. I’ll just try to enjoy it as much as I can, but the way that we are winning is more important. I know he was trying to be around the strike zone and I just wanted him to come to me and give me the best chance to put my best swing. I hit the ball well. I was ready for that.”
Jhoan Duran pitched the ninth and picked up his 31st save of the season.
The Phillies remain 1.5 games behind Milwaukee for the top seed in the National League as the Brewers beat the Angels Monday. Philadelphia also expanded their lead over the Dodgers to 6.5 for the second seed. The top two seeds receive byes in the postseason.
“They’ve been huge because they’ve been great games,” said Thomson of the two wins against the Dodgers. “Fell behind tonight 4-0 and it kind of looked like we were dead in the water. All of the sudden we have that big sixth inning, Marsh home run and Kepler home run and in the ninth it all started with two outs. Just a really good team win.”
The Phillies now own the tiebreaker against the Dodgers so would have home field advantage should the two meet in the playoffs.
“It’s huge,” Thomson said. “It doesn’t matter what team it is I think we play better at home than we do on the road and I think a lot of it has to do with our fan base and everybody is comfortable at home. Getting home field advantage is crucial.”
Not only are the wins happening often for the Phillies, they are also happening in extremely enjoyable ways for them.
“I was ready to run on the field like we were in the bottom of the ninth,” said Marsh of Marchan’s home run. “It was a whole lot of fun. Really good at-bat, weight off the back foot. It was a professional at-bat and we needed it. Big time.”
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