Dodgers Lose Series Finale to Phillies After Disastrous Four-Run Ninth

Dodgers 3 11 1

Phillies 7 11 0

WP- Adams (1-0)

LP- Wilson (0-2)

HR- Uribe (4), Gonzalez (6)

The Dodgers lost the finale of the four-game series against the Phillies on Thursday night, but it wasn’t the fault of starter Dan Haren who allowed just one earned run over 6 frames. Adrian Gonzalez‘s second error of the season led to 2 runs in the fifth inning, and Brian Wilson‘s implosion in the top of the ninth gave the Phils four more. Kyle Kendrick wasn’t involved in the decision either, and his only mistake was Juan Uribe‘s two-run homerun in the fourth inning.

Crawford .222

Kemp .211

Ethier .194

Puig .254

Apr 24, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Dan Haren throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies in the second inning during the game at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY SportsIt was a battle of the battered bullpens.

blew the save after serving up a solo shot to Gonzo in the seventh, but he came back to garner the win after shutting down the Dodgers in the eighth. Not only was the Dodgers defense lacking, but the offense left 10 men on base and were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. After tying up the game in the seventh, the Dodger bullpen could not preserve the tie thanks to Wilson’s disastrous outing.

Brian Wilson has looked downright awful this season. I’m not sure if his elbow is acting up? We saw him have some issues starting back in Spring Training which were never really detailed fully. Wilson allowed 4 runs on 3 hits with a walk and a hit batter in the top of the ninth inning which put the nails in the proverbial coffin for the Dodgers. Wilson’s ERA skyrocketed to 15.75 on the season, but the Dodgers had little choice to use him after overusing Kenley Jansen this series. Here’s how the debacle unfolded…

Carlos Ruiz continues to torment the Dodgers, and he doubles down the right field line with one out in the top of the first against Dan Haren. Chase Utley pops out to Hanley Ramirez for the second out. Ryan Howard looks at strike three to end the inning.

With two out in the home half of the first, Hanley Ramirez singles past Galvis into left field. It looks like Hanley has found his rhythm again. Adrian Gonzalez grounds out.

Marlon Byrd hits the second double of the game for Philadelphia in the top of the second as he blisters a ball down the left field line to lead-off. Dominic Brown singles, but Byrd has to hold at third. Freddy Galvis strikes out. While Cody Asche strikes out, Brown steals second on the play. Kyle Kendrick strikes out, and Haren strikes out the side. The Phillies waste a golden opportunity and strand two runners.

Juan Uribe flares a two-out single to right field in the bottom of the second. Utley snares a line drive by Tim Federowicz, and the Dodgers only get a base hit nothing more.

Dan Haren walks Ruiz with one out in the third. Utley grounds a single into right field, and the Phillies once again have two runners on with

Hanley Ramirez is tagged out by Carlos Ruiz which spurs a rule review by the umpires in the bottom of the fifth inning. Photo: Janine Roach

one out. Howard is caught looking for the second time, and Haren already has collected five strikeouts. Zack Greinke struck out 11 Phils last night in the Dodger win. Marlon Byrd fouls a ball to right field, and Puig just misses catching the ball as he hits the wall and slams his hand down in a little tantrum. Haren gets Byrd to groundout to end the inning and the threat. Once again the Phillies strand two men. Game two was very similar when the Phillies repeatedly stranded a couple runners per frame.

Crawford singles with two out in the bottom of the third. Hanley hits a high fly ball to left field, but Brown puts his glove on it at the warning track.

Haren pitches a very nice 1-2-3 inning in the fourth.

Adrian Gonzalez steams into second with a stand up double to lead-off the bottom of the fourth. The Dodgers now have 74 extra base hits. Puig grounds out. Ethier strikes out. Then Juan Uribe comes up huge and smashes a two-run homerun to left field! Kyle Kendrick is a little shaken up, and he walks FedEx after the Uribe bomb. Dan Haren gets in on the action and singles to left field. Gordon grounds into the force out to end the frame, but the Dodgers take a 2-0 lead thanks to Uribe’s jazzy homer.

The Dodger lead is evaporated quicker than you can say “obligatory error.” Ben Revere singles with one out in the fifth. Ruiz singles to left field, and Revere advances to third. Utley reaches on a fielding error by Gonzo, and Revere comes home to score on the play. The runners moves up one base each on a Howard ground out. Byrd comes up big again with a double to right field past a diving Puig. Two runs score, and the Phillies take a 3-2 lead.

Apr 24, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Juan Uribe hits a two-run home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth inning during the game at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

In the bottom of the fifth, Hanley and Gonzo hit back to back singles with one out. Puig grounds sharply to third, and Asche makes a great catch and throw to home to tag out Hanley. Don Mattingly will come out to argue that Ruiz was blocking the plate per the new rule. The umpires will review the play and uphold the call that Hanley is out. Ruiz did nothing wrong on that play. Uribe grounds out to end the inning, and the Dodgers fail to score.

Haren sends the Phillies down in order in the top of the sixth.

Uribe reaches beats out the throw by Galvis on a groundout to short to lead-off the bottom of the sixth. Ryne Sandberg will challenge the call, and the umpires confer with their headphones on once again. The umpires call Uribe safe and he is now 3-for-3 on the night. FedEx flies out, and Scott Van Slyke come off the bench and strikes out. Gordon comes up with a single to center. That’s going to be all for Kyle Kendrick who will be relieved by Jake Diekman the lefty. Mattingly will counter by using Matt Kemp to bat in place of Crawford. Kemp chases a 98-mph fastball away and goes down on strikes.

Dan Haren pitched 6 innings and allowed 3 runs on 7 hits with 7 strikeouts and 2 walks on 106 pitches.

Kyle Kendrick went 5 2/3 innings and allowed 2 runs on 10 hits with 2 strikeouts and a walk on 103 pitches.

Chris Withrow comes out of the Dodgers bullpen for the top of the seventh. Withrow of course allows the dreaded lead-off walk, a free pass to Ruiz. Utley lines out, and Howard grounds into a double play.

The Dodgers tie it up in the bottom of the seventh thanks to the awful Philadelphia bullpen. Adrian Gonzalez goes deep for his sixth

Brian Wilson allows four runs in the ninth inning. Photo: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

homerun of the year! Mike Adams is able to retire Puig and Ethier thereafter, but the Phillies and Dodgers now have three runs apiece.

Chris Perez will take over on the mound for the Dodgers in the eighth. Andre Ethier makes a very nice catch on a fly ball by Byrd. Brown strikes out. Galvis grounds out in the perfect Perez inning.

Mike Adams pitches a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the eighth, and we head to the ninth in a 3-3 tie.

Brian Wilson will come in for the Dodgers in the top of the ninth. Asche singles up the middle to lead-off. TGJ lines out, but Revere singles to left. Here comes Ruiz. Carlos Ruiz predictably doubles down the left field line, and two runs come in. 5-3 Phillies. Brian Wilson has looked terrible this season. Wilson then hits Ryan Howard with a pitch to load the bases up with one out. Mattingly finally gets the hook. Jamey Wright will come in to attempt to get out of this mess. The Phils cash in two more runs on Byrd’s third hit of the night. The runs are charged to Wilson who now has a 15.75 ERA. Brown walks, and there’s still just one out. Galvis pops out to Dee. Asche, who began this disaster of an inning, comes up again but this time grounds out. 7-3 Phillies, and all I want to do is cry myself to sleep.

Jonathan Papelbon will shut the door on the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth. Gordon grounds out, Kemp strikes out, Hanley draws a meaningless walk, Gonzo flies out.

The Dodgers fall to 13-10. Tomorrow they will begin a three-game set with the league’s hottest hitting team, the Colorado Rockies. Josh Beckett will counter Jordan Lyles who is 3-0 on the season.