Dodgers Edge Out Phillies and Take Series

Dodgers 6 7 0

Phillies 5 7 1

WP- Capuano (8-2)

LP- Kendrick (2-5)

S- Jansen (9)

HR- Victorino (7), Wigginton (6), Rollins (3)

Chris Capuano only allowed four hits (three of which were homeruns) and had a typical meltdown in the fifth inning, but he still went on to win his eighth game of the year. A tired Kenley Jansen picked up his third consecutive save as he battled through the bottom of the ninth and struck out Jim Thome along the way. The Dodgers scored two runs in the third, three in the sixth, and an important insurance run in the top of the ninth on a walk by James Loney. Dee Gordon‘s two-run single in the sixth would be integral to the Dodger win. With Jimmy Rollins and Juan Pierre looking on at the young speedster, Dee also made some nice plays in the field tonight as well.

Kyle Kendrick goes to work in the first inning for the Phillies as they try to stave off the Dodgers from winning three in a row and the series. Dee Gordon pops up to Juan Pierre in left field for the first out of the game. Elian Herrera draws a walk. While former Phillie Bobby Abreu swings and misses at the plate, Herrera is thrown out at second trying to steal in a poorly executed hit and run play. Then Abreu goes down on strikes immediately thereafter.

Chris Capuano is on the mound for the Dodgers, and he’s trying to bounce back from his worst start of the season last time out in Colorado. Cappy starts out well by striking out Jimmy Rollins. Pierre bounces out, and Cappy whiffs Hunter Pence with a changeup for a very nice 1-2-3 inning.

Andre Ethier, A.J. Ellis, and James Loney all make out to second baseman Freddy Galvis as they go down in order in the second inning.

Carlos Ruiz hits a deep fly ball to left, but Abreu is there to catch it against the wall for the first out of the bottom of the second inning. Shane Victorino hits a solo homerun on a 3-2 count giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Ty Wigginton flies out, and John Mayberry strikes out to end the frame.

Adam Kennedy leads off the Dodger half of the third with a single. Tony Gwynn Jr. triples off the right field scoreboard, and Kennedy brings in a Dodger run, 1-1. Hunter Pence hurts his arm as he slams into the scoreboard trying to catch Gwynn’s ball, but he stays in the game. Capuano’s groundball gets past Mayberry and Galvis, and Gwynn comes into score giving the Dodgers the lead, 2-1. The error goes to Mayberry on the play. Gordon is hit by the pitch, and the Dodgers have runners on first and second with nobody out. Elian’s grounder moves both runners over. Abreu draws a walk to load up the bases for Dre. Ethier flies out to left field, and Cappy is held at third base even though Pierre has an awful arm. A.J. Ellis grounds into a force out, and the Dodgers end up stranding three but scoring two.

Cappy strikes out Galvis and Kendrick back-to-back in the bottom of the third. Rollins flies out to left, and Cappy has another nice easy inning.

Kyle Kendrick settles down in the fourth as Loney and Kennedy both fly out to Pierre for the first and second outs. Gwynn strikes out.  

Carlos Ruiz, the pesky Philadelphia catcher, singles with two outs. Victorino pops up, and we head to the fifth.

The Phillies want no part of Herrera, and Elian walks for the second time of the game. Abreu strikes out again for the third out.

In the bottom of the fifth, Ty Wigginton leads off with a solo homerun to tie the game up, 2-2. Freddy Galvis tweaks his back at the plate, and he has to come out of the game with a 3-2 count on him. Mike Fontenot pinch hits, and he draws the walk. Kendrick’s sacrifice bunt moves Fontenot to second. Rick Honeycutt comes out for a meeting on the mound. Jimmy Rollins then hits the third Phillies homerun of the game, and Philadelphia takes a 4-2 lead. Capuano finally gets the last out on a Pierre comebacker, but the fifth inning meltdown puts the Phillies ahead by two.

In the sixth, Dre strikes out. A.J. singles, and Loney doubles! Adam Kennedy strikes out of course, and then they intentionally walk Tony Gwynn to load the bases up with two outs. Jerry Hairston Jr. is called in to pinch hit for Capuano. Kendrick walks Hairston to walk in a run, 4-3. Charlie Manuel has had enough, and Krendrick is hooked. Raul Valdes, a lefty, will come in to pitch to Dee. Dee smacks a single to right, and two runs score! The Dodgers take the lead! 5-4. Herrera flies out, but not before the Dodger sway things back to their favor.

Chris Capuano pitched 5 innings, allowing 4 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts on 92 pitches.

Kyle Kendrick pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing 4 hits, 5 runs, 5 walks, and 6 strikeouts on 112 pitches.

Todd Coffey is asked to pitch the bottom of the sixth and quickly gets the first two outs striking out Pence and inducing a groundout by Ruiz. Victorino grounds out, and Coffey impressively downs the Phillies in order.

Abreu strikes out for the third time to lead the seventh off. Dre flies out, and AJ pops out as the Dodgers go down in order.

Coffey is in for a second inning, and he promptly gives up a single to the leadoff batter Wigginton. Mayberry flies out. Donnie decides to make a double switch, and he brings in Alex Castellanos to replace Abreu in left and Scott Elbert out of the pen. Fontenot flies out to Castellanos. Hector Luna flies out, and Elbert preserves the one-run lead.

Antonio Bastardo comes in for the Phillies in the top of the eighth. James Loney leads off with a single up the middle and off a lefty! Alex Castellanos strikes out on three pitches for the first out of the inning. Gwynn whiffs. Loney moves over to second on a wild pitch. Hairston strikes out swinging.

Josh Lindblom goes to the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rollins strikes out swinging, and Lindblom blows him away with a high fastball. Juan Pierre singles to center. Pence hits into a 6-3 double play to end the inning. What a terrific play by Gordon!

Another Philadelphia left-hander, Jake Diekman, comes in for the top of the ninth. How many lefties do they have in the pen? Herrera doubles with one out. Juan Rivera strikes out, but he reaches first safely as the ball gets away from Ruiz. Herrera moves over to third. Andre strikes out against the side-armed pitcher. Dre ends up going 0 for 5 on the night and 0 for his last 17. A.J. draws a walk to load the bases. Loney walks in the run, and the Dodgers now lead by two 6-4. Castellanos grounds out to end the little rally, but we did get the insurance run.

The bottom of the ninth is all in the hands of Kenley Jansen. Carlos Ruiz fouls off pitch after pitch as he battles Jansen in a 12 pitch at bat which ends by Jansen hitting him with that said 12th pitch. Remember this is the third game in a row that Jansen has pitched in. Victorino flies out to center for the first out. The obligatory wild pitch allows Ruiz to move over to second. Wigginton doubles in Ruiz, and it’s back to a one-run game. Jansen is clearly tired. Jim Thome will be pinch-hitting. Jansen rears back, and strikes out Thome on a pitch down and away! One more out…Jansen walks Fontenot, and Mattingly is going to leave in Jansen. Somehow Jansen gets Brian Schneiderto pop out for the final out! Way to go Kenley!

The Dodgers are now 36-21, and they maintain a 4 game lead over the Giants in the standings. The Dodgers will look to Aaron Harang early tomorrow morning for the chance to sweep the Phillies at home in four games. How sweet would that be? Join us tomorrow at 10:10am as we root for our Boys in Blue to put an extra crack in that Liberty Bell!