Fans react after Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani is thrown out by Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Matt Strahm during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Philadelphia.
11:33 JST, July 11, 2024
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Schwarber hit his eighth leadoff home run of the season, All-Star reliever Matt Strahm struck out two-time MVP Shohei Ohtani in the seventh inning to preserve the lead and the Philadelphia Phillies won again without Bryce Harper, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 on Wednesday night.
The Phillies won the first two games of the three-game set in a showdown of two NL division leaders. The Phillies continued to build on the best record in baseball, reaching 60 victories. At 60-32, only the 1976 team (in 88 games) has reached that mark faster in a season in franchise history.
The Phillies defeated Ohtani and the NL West leaders again without Harper, this time with a bruised left hand. Harper had missed the previous nine games with a strained left hamstring until returning for Tuesday’s 10-1 victory. Harper, a two-time NL MVP, was injured at an undisclosed time, though he was clearly clutching his hand and hunched over in pain after a second-inning chop by Miguel Rojas.
With an All-Star slugger sidelined, an All-Star replacement saved the Phillies.
Trailing 4-2 in the seventh inning, Ohtani was fooled with an 83-mph slider and struck out the long-haired left-hander Strahm with inherited runners on the corners and one out. Strahm retired Teoscar Hernández on a flyball to escape the jam.
The Dodgers made it 4-3 in the eighth. Jeff Hoffman — one of seven Phillies selected to the NL All-Star team — pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his ninth save.
Key cogs Harper, catcher JT Realmuto (out until after the All-Star break), outfielder Brandon Marsh and Schwarber have all been on the injured list for the Phillies this season. All-Star pitcher Zack Wheeler is battling stiffness.
Still, nothing has really been able to stop a Phillies team determined to win the World Series, which they have failed to do the past two seasons, losing to Houston in 2022 and losing to Arizona in the NL Championship Series in 2023.
If the Phillies want to make one last push before the All-Star break and chase a record 70 wins, a three-game weekend series against the Oakland A’s could help them get there.
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers drives in a run after hitting a single against pitcher Cristopher Sánchez of the Philadelphia Phillies during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Philadelphia.
Cristopher Sánchez (7-4) struck out five and allowed two runs in six innings for the Phillies on another sticky night in Philly. He gave up a 2-0 lead and the Dodgers tied it with Ohtani’s RBI single in the fifth.
Sanchez has a 1.50 ERA (11 earned runs in 66 innings) in his 10 home games this season.
Whit Merrifield — who led the AL with 10 triples in 2019 but hasn’t hit one since 2022 — led off the fifth with a lazy fly to center that Andy Pages lost in the lights. Merrifield raced around first and touched down at third for his 27th career triple. After Garrett Stubbs and Schwarber failed to drive the ball out of the infield, Merrifield scored on Trea Turner’s grounder. Turner advanced to third on All-Star Alec Bohm’s NL-best 32nd double and scored on Bryson Stott’s infield single for a 4-2 lead.
Schwarber’s shot off Gavin Stone (9-3) was his 39th career leadoff homer. Stone allowed four runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings.
