PHILADELPHIA — Trea Turner spent parts of two seasons wearing Dodger blue on the way to a championship. Sunday night, less than 24 hours after Los Angeles split a doubleheader in New York and hopped a red-eye to Philly, he made sure his former team remembered exactly what that felt like. Turner hit two home runs and drove in five against the Dodgers, and by the time Los Angeles finally found its swing in the ninth, it was chasing a lead that had already ballooned to six runs. The Phillies took the series opener at Citizens Bank Park, 10-7, in a game that got away early and never fully came back.
Turner Makes It Personal
The Dodgers had one shot to make him pay for it. In the first inning, Turner booted a routine grounder off Mookie Betts’ bat, and Los Angeles loaded the bases with one out against a defense that looked rattled before the game had even settled in. It didn’t matter. Miguel Rojas grounded into a force out, the threat died at second base, and Turner spent the rest of the night making sure it was the last break the Dodgers would get.
His two-run homer in the second put Philadelphia up 4-0 before the Dodgers had managed a hit off Cristopher Sánchez, capping a rally that also saw Gabriel Rincones Jr. double home a run and Justin Crawford add a sacrifice fly.
His three-run shot in the sixth, this one off Alex Vesia, turned a manageable deficit into an eight-run cushion in the time it took to round the bases. Add a first-inning double, and Turner finished his homecoming series opener with two homers, five RBI and a Dodgers lineup that never once solved him.
Sheehan Can’t Find an Answer, Bullpen Piles On
Emmet Sheehan didn’t have it. He lasted just 5.1 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits, including a Turner homer and a Brandon Marsh solo shot that opened the floodgates in the sixth. Alex Vesia was worse in an even smaller sample, retiring only two batters while surrendering the blast that ended the competitive portion of the night.
Landon Knack settled in for mop-up work, but Bryce Harper’s solo shot in the seventh and a pinch-hit homer from Derek Hill in the eighth kept the score climbing, pushing Philadelphia’s lead to 10-4. It was the kind of night where every break went the Phillies’ way, and a pitching staff that had carried the load through a doubleheader the day before simply had nothing left to give.
Betts Keeps Swinging, But the Clock Runs Out
Mookie Betts refused to let the night go quietly. He finished 4-for-5 with three runs and three RBI, and his second homer of the game, a two-run shot in the ninth, cut what had been a laugher down to 10-7 and briefly made Citizens Bank Park nervous.
For a few minutes the Dodgers looked like the lineup that outscored everybody in baseball back in April, stacking hard contact and forcing three pitching changes in the inning alone.
It wasn’t enough. Jhoan Duran came in and shut the door, and the Phillies escaped with a win despite handing over three runs in the ninth with the bullpen supposedly in cruise control. Los Angeles will take the fight shown late, even if it came a few innings too late to matter.
Up Next
A series opener like this one is best left behind fast, and the Dodgers get the chance to do exactly that Tuesday, back at Citizens Bank Park for game two. Justin Wrobleski gets the ball for Los Angeles opposite Zack Wheeler, with first pitch set for 3:40 p.m. PST.
If Monday was about a former Dodger doing damage in Philadelphia colors, Tuesday is a chance for the current group to answer back and even the series before it heads to a rubber match.
