PHILADELPHIA — Sunday night buried the Dodgers under a wave of Trea Turner home runs. Tuesday, they needed almost two extra hours just to find out if they’d get a chance to answer back. A weather delay pushed first pitch at Citizens Bank Park back to 5 p.m. PST, and once it finally arrived, Los Angeles turned a tight, low-scoring night into a series-evening 2-1 win. Justin Wrobleski silenced the same lineup that had torched the Dodgers a night earlier, Max Muncy delivered the only cushion Los Angeles would need, and a chaotic ninth-inning double play slammed the door on a Phillies rally that came one base short of tying it back up.
A Delay, Then an Answer from Wrobleski
Justin Wrobleski didn’t get the benefit of building any early rhythm. By the time he threw his first pitch, both clubs had already been sitting around Citizens Bank Park for almost two hours with no game to show for it. A weather delay stretched the scheduled 3:40 p.m. first pitch into a 5 p.m. start with nothing to do but wait it out. It didn’t rattle him. Wrobleski worked into the seventh, scattering five hits and a single run across 6.1 innings while striking out seven, holding down a Phillies lineup that had put up ten runs less than a day earlier.
Philadelphia’s only damage against him came in the first, when Bryce Harper doubled and Alec Bohm singled him home. It was the last time all night the Dodgers would trail. Wrobleski improved to 11-2 on the season, and if Monday’s blowout raised any questions about a pitching staff worn down by a doubleheader and a cross-country flight, he answered them by working deep into a game the Dodgers badly needed to control.
Muncy Turns One Swing Into the Difference
Los Angeles spent the first three innings making quiet contact against Zack Wheeler and not much else, going down in order twice and stranding a runner in the third without ever threatening to break through. That changed in the fourth. Andy Pages opened the inning with a single, Freddie Freeman flew out, and two batters later Max Muncy turned around a fastball and drove it out to center for his 19th home run of the season, a two-run blast that scored Pages and put the Dodgers ahead for good, 2-1.
It was the only extra-base hit Los Angeles would need all night, and it came at the one moment the Dodgers couldn’t afford to let Wheeler settle back in. He did anyway, retiring the next several batters he faced without incident, but the damage was already done. One swing was enough to hold up against a Phillies club that had feasted on Dodgers pitching just one night before.
Scott and a Double Play Slam the Door
Philadelphia refused to fold without making things interesting. Alec Bohm led off the ninth with a single and was lifted for pinch-runner Justin Crawford, the Phillies playing for the tying run right then. Edmundo Sosa struck out, but J.T. Realmuto doubled into left, sending Crawford to third with the tying run 90 feet away. Brandon Marsh grounded one that could have flipped the entire night.
Instead, Max Muncy fielded it and fired home to Dalton Rushing, who relayed to Mookie Betts for the tag on Crawford, and Betts fired to Tommy Edman covering second to catch Realmuto and complete the double play. Tanner Scott got the final out to close it, his 15th save of the season, sending the series to Wednesday tied at a game apiece.
Up Next
After a night decided by one swing and one throw home, the Dodgers and Phillies will settle it Wednesday in the rubber match at Citizens Bank Park.
Eric Lauer takes the ball for Los Angeles opposite Aaron Nola, with first pitch set for 3:40 p.m. PST. Monday belonged to the Phillies and Tuesday belonged to the Dodgers. Wednesday decides who leaves Philadelphia with the series.
