LOS ANGELES — Sweep avoidance wins against two powerhouses in baseball of the past decade and four outs from a break-even road trip. Phillies We had a perfect matchup on Wednesday.
“Alvarado vs Barnes?” Manager Rob Thomson said. “I’ll take Alvarado. Every day of the week.”
For the record, it’s the Phillies’ flamethrowing left-hander and most unruly reliever ever in the sport so far this season against Dodgers . 104-at-bat backup catcher Austin Barnes. I’m Jose Alvarado. How many times did Alvarado win the duel? 9 out of 10? 90 out of 100?
But Barnes introduced a two-strike pitch, and just as the Phillies defended in the matinee series finale at Dodger Stadium, anything can happen. Even skilful defensive third baseman Edmund Sosa could miss a ball going over the glove and into left field for a go-ahead hit.
And the day Bryce Harper hit three, got on base five times, and scraped the rust off in just two games after returning from Tommy John’s elbow surgery at warp speed, the Phillies were beaten 10-6 in the gut. rice field. , after leading 5-0 in the third and 5-4 with two outs in the eighth.
“It can’t be,” said Harper. “We just let go of that game. no break out. Given what we want to do this year, what we want to do this year, and what we want to do every year, it’s just not possible. “
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After all, it wasn’t Sosa’s misplay that sank the Phillies — somehow, Barnes was credited with a two-run single — that sank the Phillies. It wasn’t due to Castellanos’ right field error. Or left fielder Kyle Schwarber was unable to single James Outman in the eighth inning.
The Dodgers celebrated at home plate in front of a midweek crowd of 36,539 after winning Max Muncy’s walk-off grand slam over reliever Craig Kimbrel. They sent the Phillies to his fourth straight loss after winning his first two games of the trip in Houston last weekend.
And now, Harper will make a grand return to Citizens Bank Park on Friday night with a 15-17 Phillies team.
“The ball has fallen on the sheet and is about to leave the field. It’s pretty frustrating,” Kimbrel said. “I didn’t make some pitches.”
But if Sosa had caught the ball coming off Barnes’ bat at just 89 mph, this might not have happened. Maybe it knuckles or changes direction. Sosa could not speak clearly. This is the play he usually does.
“It’s easy,” Sosa said through the team’s interpreter. “I should have caught that ball.
Instead of ending the inning with a 5-4 lead, the Phillies trailed 6-5. Harper brought them back in the top of the ninth. He cracked a two-out single to right field and scored off a two-hitter in the second on Bryson Stott’s game-tying single.
Kimbrel, who failed to get the closer job for the Dodgers late last season and was left off the postseason roster, gave up a leadoff single to Chris Taylor in the ninth inning. Kimbrel loaded the bases with an intentional walk by Freddie Freeman and a walk to Will Smith before Muncy ambushed the first pitch.
And after beating the Phillies by a margin of 26-5 in the first two games of the series, the Dodgers have finished a series sweep among teams with a vision of winning the pennant.
Sometimes we weren’t in the same field.
“When you play the game the right way, you can win a lot of games if you play soundly,” Harper said. “We made a few mistakes today. We have to do things the way we do. Overall, we have to be better.”
Thomson said: But you have to dust yourself off and start over. “
harper glides safely
Harper has one default speed — full speed — but for weeks, team officials wondered how he would react the first time the game harmed his reconstructed right elbow.
Three times they noticed.
The first of Harper’s three hits. — carromed off the sidewall and kicked into left field. He zoomed around first base, pumping his arms and stirring his legs, as he always does. However, he chose to slide off his feet into second base.
“I never thought there would be a play at second base,” Harper said. “I never thought I’d be slipping on my head or slipping on my feet. It worked out just the way it did.
Harper wore an awkward brace on his right elbow when running on base. However, the Phillies were upset in the ninth inning that the new pace-of-play rule didn’t give him time to score two runs.
Mix bag for Nora
On the plus side, Aaron Nola pitched in the seventh inning, leaving the lead behind.
Nola allowed 4 runs on 7 hits in 6 ⅓ walk free innings. His biggest blow against him was his two-run homer off Miguel Vargas in the fourth inning, closing the gap to 5-3.
“I put that fastball on the plate and Vargas had a good swing,” said Nora. “It was like a dagger. Other than that, I felt pretty good.”
Nola’s average fastball speed remained one tick down from previous seasons. Thomson attributed this to a gradual increase in his arm strength after a shorter than usual offseason.
safety first
Backup catcher Garrett Stubbs contributed most of all to the big four with a two-out safety squeeze.
Stubbs made his second start in 14 days and traveled from San Diego to the game with his family. Brandon Marsh, who was not running in play, scored easily, and Stubbs celebrated by sticking his pelvis in the direction of the dugout.
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