LOS ANGELES, CA — In game two of this three-game series between these Division-leading teams from the NL. East and the NL. West, the Phillies will start lefty Cristopher Sánchez, La Romana, Dominican Republic, who will square off against future Hall of Fame lefty Clayton Kershaw on a blistering hot day here in LA.
After retiring the first ten batters he faced, Kershaw gave up back-to-back singles to Trea Turner and Bryce Harper, putting runners on the corners. But as a true superstar, he retired the next two batters. Through 4 innings, Sánchez kept pace with Kershaw in an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel, allowing only two hits to that point in the game.
The Phillies finally got to Kershaw in the top of the fifth inning, scoring one run on three solid hits. He was relieved by Joe Kelly and left with a line of 4.2 innings pitched, one run, one run earned, five hits, and five strikeouts. Kershaw threw 81 pitches, 55 for strikes.
Future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw on the mound for Dodgers – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
The return of Brusdar Graterol was short-lived, as he threw eight pitches and had to be carried off the field when he suffered a right hamstring strain. The Phillies wasted no time and put three runs across to give Sánchez some breathing room. In the top of the seventh inning, the Phillies looked like they would add a few more runs when they had runners on first and second and one out. J.T. Realmuto hit a line drive to Andy Pages, Havana, Cuba, who caught it and gunned down Harper at third after he tried to advance on a tag up.
Andy Pages on the money to get Bryce Harper at 3rd 🎯 pic.twitter.com/V6O8ihpO6C
— MLB (@MLB) August 7, 2024
The big highlight tonight was the quality start of six innings, five hits, and one run performance by Sánchez. The Dodgers would put their second run on the board when Dominican Teoscar Hernández hit a monster 424-foot home run into the netting in dead center field.
Dave Roberts stayed with Brent Honeywell, who had relieved Graterol with a 4-2 Phillies lead. He got the Dodgers through nine innings but not without surrendering a 353-foot home run by Edmundo Sosa, Panama City, Panama, and a 420-foot bomb off of the right field foul pole by Kyle Schwarber, capping a much-needed 6-2 win for the slumping Beasts of the NL East.
…to back#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/yOogiMr56s
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 7, 2024
Of note: The Dodgers collected seven hits tonight and never had more than one hit in any one inning. Freddie Freeman hit his career double number 500. Mookie Betts took batting practice pre-game and looked comfortable, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto easily threw another bullpen session.
Also, today, we mourn the loss of Billy Bean, who passed away at the age of 60 from acute myeloid leukemia. His approach to how teams put an organization together in baseball today was innovative.
We are deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague Billy Bean, MLB’s Senior VP for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and Special Assistant to the Commissioner. Billy, who fought a heroic year-long battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, was 60.
Over the last 10 years,… pic.twitter.com/dCfFM6hQlE
— MLB (@MLB) August 6, 2024
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