Philadelphia has already clinched a playoff berth. The Dodgers’ magic quantity for matching that’s 5 after Monday’s 6-5 extra-inning loss to the Phillies.
So the possibilities are excessive the groups will meet once more within the postseason, which makes this week’s collection at Dodger Stadium an important alternative to do some scouting.
“We try to gather as much information as we can,” infielder Miguel Rojas stated. “They’re doing the same thing.”
That’s not the primary goal, although. As a result of if the Dodgers are closing in on a playoff berth, they aren’t there but. They usually have much more work to do after Monday’s sport, which ended with J.T. Realmuto’s Tenth-inning sacrifice fly scoring ghost runner Harrison Bader with the profitable run for Philadelphia.
“With where we’re at, I’m trying to win every game,” stated supervisor Dave Roberts, whose workforce fought again from deficits 3 times earlier than falling. “And where it falls out is where it falls out.”
The place the Dodgers are is 2 video games in entrance of idle San Diego within the Nationwide League West. Their magic quantity for clinching an eleventh division title in 12 seasons is 10 with lower than two weeks left within the common season.
However the Dodgers additionally entered the Phillies collection with their eyes on the No. 2 seed within the postseason match, a spot Philadelphia holds and one which brings with it a bye within the first spherical. It’s a break Roberts’ battered roster may use.
Nevertheless it’s one which turned extra elusive when Monday’s win pushed the Phillies’ result in 5½ video games within the race for No. 2, a deficit the Dodgers have simply 12 video games to make up.
“It’s really hard to not face these games down the stretch like a playoff game,” Rojas stated. “We’ve been doing this for almost two weeks now. That’s the way that we have to look at it if we want to be prepared for October.”
Left-hander Jack Dreyer agreed.
“Obviously it’s fun to think about the playoffs,” he stated. “But right now, we’re just focused on this series and do[ing] whatever we can to perform for this series.”
That doesn’t imply gamers gained’t keep in mind how particular person matchups unfold throughout this collection or the subsequent one towards the San Francisco Giants, one other potential playoff opponent.
“There are absolutely things that you can kind of pick up on and try to use in the future,” Dreyer stated. “Every time that you’re playing guys, you can kind of deposit those memories into your brain for the future. Because you’re bound to face the same guys over and over again.”
One reminiscence Dreyer gained’t quickly overlook is the 2-0 fastball he threw to Weston Wilson within the seventh, a pitch Wilson, the Phillies’ ninth-place hitter, drove 417 toes to useless heart for a go-ahead residence run.
Two matchups Roberts did wish to see Monday was left-hander Anthony Banda going through the Phillies’ two left-handed sluggers, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. So he despatched the reliever out to open the sport.
That didn’t work out effectively, with Schwarber driving a 2-2 pitch into the second row of the right-centerfield bleachers for his league-best 53rd homer of the yr. It was the primary homer Banda had given up since Aug. 4.
Banda then walked Harper earlier than leaving in favor of right-hander Emmet Sheehan, who didn’t hand over one other hit till Otto Kemp opened the seventh with a ground-rule double to left.
That led Roberts to drag Sheehan for Dreyer, who gave up an RBI single to Bryson Stott adopted by Wilson’s two-run homer, which gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead.
Dodgers aid pitcher Emmet Sheehan throws to the plate in the course of the first inning of a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday at Dodger Stadium.
(Mark J. Terrill / Related Press)
The Dodgers bought their first run within the third, when Andy Pages led off with a double into the left-field nook, moved to 3rd on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Mookie Betts fly ball simply wanting the warning monitor in heart.
Two innings later, Max Muncy put the Dodgers in entrance with a leadoff residence run to proper, his first since getting back from the injured listing every week in the past. Betts made it 3-1 with one other sacrifice fly to heart later within the inning, giving him 18 RBIs in September and 77 for the season, two higher than his whole final yr.
Betts added to that in seventh, tying the sport with a two-out homer, his nineteenth of the season, matching his whole from final season.
Harper answered within the eighth, placing the Phillies again in entrance, solely to have Pages even issues once more with one out within the ninth along with his twenty fifth homer of the season off Phillies nearer Jhoan Durán, sending the sport to additional innings.
The sport ended with Muncy grounding out with the bases loaded towards Philadelphia right-hander David Robertson.
Stewart stories for rehab project
Reliever Brock Stewart, the Dodgers’ most celebrated acquisition on the commerce deadline, left Monday to affix Oklahoma Metropolis for a two-game rehab project. Stewart, on the injured listing since Aug. 12 with proper shoulder irritation, is predicted to pitch Tuesday and Thursday in Triple A earlier than returning to Dodger Stadium.
“If all goes well, then we have a conversation over the weekend,” Roberts stated of Stewart’s availability. “We’ve just got to make sure he’s healthy. If he’s right, then it could be very additive.”
Dodgers honor Betts’ philanthropy
For the second straight yr Betts has been chosen because the Dodgers’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, baseball’s most prestigious off-the-field prize, in recognition for his wide-ranging charity work.
In January, Betts’ 5050 Basis donated greater than $30,000 of Nike clothes to victims of the Southern California wildfires. A couple of weeks later, in partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers Basis (LADF), he donated greater than $160,000 to the Brotherhood Campaign to assist battle starvation and homelessness in Los Angeles.
Additionally this season the 5050 Basis partnered with the Obama Basis at Hyde Park Academy to donate youth sports activities tools and different provides whereas additionally funding the Mookie Betts Metro Baseball Match in Nashville.
