The Phillies are on the cusp of doing something they haven’t done since April 2014 – winning a series at Dodger Arena.
The Phils have put themselves in this position by taking the first two of a four-game series in Los Angeles. They beat the Dodgers, 12-10, in 10 runs Friday night to improve their record on their current run to 4-1. They took two out of three in Seattle before traveling to Los Angeles.
Crime was key during the trip. Phils averaged 7.6 runs over the first five games and they hit 10 homeowners. They play with two others at Dodger Stadium before a day off on Monday and start a three-game streak against San Diego at home on Tuesday.
The Phillies have been 0-5-1 in their last six series at Dodger Stadium, dating back to 2015.
Goalkeeper Suarez will get the ball on Saturday night against Dodgers left-winger Julio Orias.
Saturday night’s game will be Bryce Harper’s last game on the trip. He’ll get a PRP injection on his injured right elbow on Sunday and this will likely keep him out of the lineup until Wednesday.
Harper will be missed. He’s been swinging a hot racquet ever since an injury forced him to move to his hitting point on April 17. He had three more injuries – my husband and I – on Friday night. He leads the Phillies with eight reptile owners and specialists with an additional 22 songs from the base.
The Dodgers scratched scheduled starter Clayton Kershaw with back problems before Friday night’s game, but his replacement, Walker Buehler, wasn’t a great medium as he entered the competition 4-1 with a 1.96 ERA.
Velez has Buehler for nine strokes and five runs in five runs. Rookie Bryson Stott, who played shortstop in place of the injured Diddy Gregorios, commanded in three runs with a pair of hits in the first four rounds.
Beginner Kyle Gibson (six runs in 3 and 2/3 runs) wasn’t as sharp and the bulls continued to be an adventure for Phils. With Seranthony Dominguez and Corey Knebel relegated due to workload concerns, coach Joe Girardi tried to get Jeurys Familia to eliminate his two-time lead in ninth. It allowed Justin Turner to tie the game, two runs, to send the game into additional roles.
Nick Castellanos drove in two of his three runs on the night with a weakness in the 10th and stole third and scored in a throwing foul to put Phils 12-9 in 10th.
Rookie right-handed Francisco Morales was thrown into the fire in his second league appearance. He battled leadership issues and three runs but caused a massive double-play ball from the Mookie Betts en route to his first big league tackle.
The Phillies’ West Coast streak left them at 16-17 and jumped them to second in the NL East, 5½ games behind the leading Mets.
Saturday night’s win would put Phils at 0.500 for the first time since the end of April at 11-11.
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