The Los Angeles Dodgers dropped their series against the Philadelphia Phillies, losing 4-3 behind another poor offensive showing. They will now look to avoid a sweep tomorrow.
The Dodgers did hit 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position, but failed to come through when needed in multiple at-bats. Of those four hits, only one drove in a run without also producing an out, while one of them did not drive in a run.
They mostly struggled against Cristopher Sánchez, who pitched six innings, giving up just the two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk. He lowered his season ERA to 2.96 across 103.1 innings, so the Dodgers are not the only team that has been unable to figure him out.
Gavin Stone was on the mound for the Dodgers, and he has now turned in poor outings in consecutive starts, a somewhat concerning trend for a pitching staff that is hanging on by a thread at the moment.
Stone allowed a leadoff homer to Kyle Schwarber, and another run in the second inning after giving up two hits and an RBI ground out. He went on to throw two consecutive scoreless innings after that, but rant into some trouble in the fifth due to poor defense.
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One run against Stone in the fiftth was due to poor defense from Andy Pages as he dropped a fly ball, but it was not ruled an error, although it likely should have been and may get changed upon further review.
The other run given up was an inherited run when Anthony Banda took over in the fifth inning and allowed an infield single.
Stone went 4.2 innings while giving up four runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and no walks.
The Dodgers have now had 11 consecutive games from their pitchers without a quality start. With Tyler Glasnow on the injured list and Bobby Miller now in Triple-A, those struggles may come to the surface even more.
Teoscar Hernández representing Dodgers in Home Run Derby
During the game, Hernández announced during an interview with ESPN that he will participate in the 2024 Home Run Derby, completing the field as the final member of the bracket.
Hernández had been hoping to participate, and now that becomes a reality with Dodgers’ third base coach Dino Ebel pitching to him during the competition.
The Dodgers’ slugger currently ranks 12th in MLB with 19 home runs, and he’s fifth in the National League. He also ranks 13th in the NL in slugging percentage (.480).
Only Shohei Ohtani (28) and Christian Walker (22) have more home runs than Hernández in the NL. Over his career, Hernández has hit 178 home runs, an average of 32 per 162 games.
