Dodgers 7 Phillies 2: All Alone in First

The Dodgers took game two from the Phillies in another offense filled nine innings.

The Dodgers are swinging hot bats and if there was any time to get hot, the best time is now. Kazmir had a pretty good start, but Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Turner shined offensively. This series so far has been full of home runs and most of which have benefited the Dodgers. For the second night in a row, another Dodger has a multi-home run game.

Dodgers Starter

Scott Kazmir got the ball for the Dodgers this afternoon. Kazmir allowed a walk in the second inning and a double from Freddy Galvis got the Phillies on the board first. They would score another run off of Kazmir in the bottom of the sixth inning when Tommy Joseph hit a solo shot. Kazmir started to really struggle in the sixth after allowing the solo home run, he allowed two back to back singles. Dave Roberts pulled him after that when he failed to get an out in the sixth. Kazmir came into this game with a personal three game losing streak. His went five innings, allowed eight hits, two earned runs, struck out one and walked three. Kazmir is not your swing and miss guy, but he held the Phillies to just two runs and one of those came off of one bad pitch.

Dodgers Offense

The Dodgers got on the board in the top of the fourth inning. Justin Turner led off with a single to right and Josh Reddick followed him up with a walk. With no outs and two runners on, Adrian Gonzalez came up to the plate. Gonzo crushed a three run home run into the seats in right field. With one swing of the bat the Dodgers took the lead by a score of 3 to 1. In the top of the fifth inning the boys in blue picked up right where they had left off in the fourth. With one out, Corey Seager singled to center and Turner sent a ball yard to put the Dodgers ahead by a score of 5 to 1. Turner now leads the National League in home runs since June 10. There is no doubt about it that Turner’s bat is hot! He started the season off pretty slow, but lately has been making up for it. Turner also now leads the Dodgers in home runs hit.

In the top of the seventh inning, Seager led off with a double to deep center. Three batters later, Gonzalez came up to the plate and hit another home run! This one extended the Dodgers lead and made the score 7 to 1. Gonzo last hit two home runs in a game on July 17th in Washington D.C. His second home run came off of a 97 MPH heater and he crushed it. The best part about the Dodgers lately is that everyone is on. This team tends to slump together or all have hot bats, but this is the perfect time for the offense to be on fire.

Joc Pederson was great tonight. He worked through some tough AB’s and managed to collect three hits. He seems to be seeing the ball much clearer lately and being smarter about the pitches he takes and the swings he makes.

Dodgers Bullpen

Grant Dayton came into the sixth inning with no outs and two runners on that he inherited from Kazmir. The last time Dayton came in for Kazmir he allowed a three run home run. Tonight, he did great! Dayton allowed a single, but then he got three Phillies to each fly out. Dayton got out of a bases loaded jam. One of the fly balls looked deep enough to possibly score on, but the Phillies were not testing any of the Dodgers arms in the outfield. Kazmir looked beyond relived when the club surrounded Dayton with high fives heading into the seventh. Dayton pitched a scoreless seventh and his night was over.

Jesse Chavez came in to face the Phillies in the eighth inning and he put together another scoreless 1-2-3 inning. Chavez has been traded a total of six times. He has spent time with multiple teams, but what he was able to do tonight is the exact reason the Dodgers picked him up from the Blue Jays.

Josh Fields came in for the ninth inning. Fields has struggled on and off since joining the Dodgers, but tonight was a good outing by him. With two out in the ninth, Odubel Herrera hit a ground ball to Utley. Utley quickly fielded the ball to Gonzo, but Herrera, with great speed made it a close play. Herrera was called out, but the Phillies quickly challenged and the call was over turned to safe. Fields did not seem to let that bother him because he came back and got a quick strike out to end the game.

Other Stuff

Thanks to a win today, the Dodgers remain in first place as they are 1.5 games ahead of the Giants. Today is the first time since April that the Dodgers have remained in first place on back to back games. It is an eight game differential in the division since the All-Star break between the Dodgers and the Giants.

The series finale between the Dodgers and the Phillies is tomorrow and first pitch is scheduled for 4:05 PM.