Early homers too much for Velasquez, Phillies to overcome

By: Rebecca Serad, Sports Talk Philly Staff

Final: Los Angeles Dodgers 9, Philadelphia Phillies 3 ❖ Attendance: 42,859

Los Angeles, LA — After Zach Eflin's struggles last night, the Philadelphia Phillies (52-63) hoped that tonight's starter, Vince Velasquez, would fare better against the offense of the Los Angeles Dodgers (64-49). However, that was not the case. Velasquez struck out the side in the first inning, but had issues with command during the rest of his outing. He allowed eleven hits, including 3 two-run homers, over the course of four and 2/3 innings. The bullpen was able to keep any more runs from scoring, but every player in the Dodgers' starting lineup, with the exception of outfielder Josh Reddick, picked up at least one hit against Phillies pitching.

The offense didn't put up much of a fight against Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda. Aside from two home-runs, courtesy of Aaron Altherr and Freddy Galvis, the bats were relatively quiet. The Phillies only got six hits off of Maeda, who fell behind most of the batters he faced and consequently had a high pitch count early on in the game. A lack of clutch hits kept the Phillies from taking advantage of the opportunities they were given by both Maeda and the Dodgers bullpen.

Early homers too much for Velasquez, Phillies to overcome

WP: Kenta Maeda (11-7, 3.31 ERA) ❖ LP: Vince Velasquez (8-4, 3.94 ERA)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
PHI	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	9	0
LAD	0	4	2	2	1	0	0	0	X	9	13	0

The Phillies were the first to get on the board. In the second inning, Cameron Rupp got a one-out walk. Aaron Altherr followed with a shot to right-center to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. Shortstop Freddy Galvis smacked a single to left. On the second pitch of Cody Asche's at-bat, Galvis went to steal second. He was called safe on the play, but the Dodgers challenged the call and had it reviewed. Ultimately, there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the call, so Galvis remained at second and the Dodgers lost their challenge. Asche struck out and brought starter Vince Velasquez to the plate. Galvis stole third during his at-bat, and this time, it didn't need a review. Velasquez was called out on strikes to end the inning and Galvis was stranded ninety feet away from giving the Phillies another run.

This was just the beginning of the scoring. In the bottom of the second, Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez led off with a double and moved to third on a ground out by Yasmani Grandal. Gonzalez came home on a single by Joc Pederson. Left fielder Howie Kendrick hit a two-run homer just out of the reach of a jumping Odubel Herrera to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. This brought Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda to the plate. He hit a ground-rule double to left-center field to put another runner in scoring position. After a ground out by former Phillie Chase Utley moved Maeda up to third, Corey Seager brought him home with a single to right field. Velasquez was able to strike out Justin Turner to end the inning, but the Dodgers had already done damage.

The Dodgers weren't done hitting yet. With one out in the bottom of the third, Gonzalez hit his second double of the game. Grandal homered to right-center field to further extend the home team's lead. Pederson followed with a walk. Velasquez was able to get Kendrick to ground into a double play to end the inning and give the Phils a chance to make a comeback.

In the top of the fourth, the Phillies started to chip at the Dodgers' lead. With one out, Galvis hit his tenth homer of the year to right field. This brought the deficit down to three runs. Unfortunately, the Phillies were unable to conjure any more offense in the inning.

The bottom of the fourth inning brought more runs for the Dodgers. Utley hit a one out single to right. One out later, Turner hit a no-doubt-about-it homer to left to give the Dodgers their biggest lead of the day. This was the third home-run of the day that Velasquez had allowed and by this point, it was abundantly obvious that he didn't have his best stuff but was still giving it his all.

The Phillies tried to take advantage of the tiring Maeda in the top of the fifth. After a pop-out by Cesar Hernandez, Herrera singled to right field. He moved to third on a single by Maikel Franco. It seemed like the Phillies were hitting the ball harder and finally gaining some offensive momentum. That bubble burst when Ryan Howard grounded into a double play to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Dodgers pounced on Velasquez yet again. It seemed like he was going to get out of the inning unscathed, but with two outs, Velasquez walked Seager. This would come back to haunt him, as Kendrick followed with a double to left field that scored Seager. That ended up being Velasquez's final batter, as he was lifted in a double switch. Reliever Luis Garcia was able to strike out pinch-hitter Rob Segedin to end the inning.

The last offensive opportunity for the Phils came in the top of the seventh against the Dodgers bullpen. Asche and Taylor Featherston hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. Hernandez grounded into a force out that put runners on first and third with only one out for Herrera. He struck out looking, and Franco popped out to end the inning. Through the entire game, the bats failed to come to life in key situations and it ultimately kept the Phillies from having any real shot at making a comeback.

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