Phillies Surge Late to Avoid Dodgers Sweep

The Philadelphia Phillies struggled mightily on offense for eight innings on Sunday before flipping a switch and winning 4-3 in extra innings. 

The Phillies nearly squandered an incredible pitching performance by Zach Eflin who held the Dodgers to just two runs and did everything he could to keep the Phillies in the game.

Eflin’s entire arsenal was dialed in, but it was his curveball that proved to be the most challenging for Dodgers hitters to face. Eflin collected an incredible 12 strikeouts with eight unique Dodgers being put out on strikes. Freddie Freeman was the only player Eflin did not strikeout at least once.

Eflin finished with a line of 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, and 12 K.

The Dodgers got things going offensively in the third inning when the red-hot Mookie Betts put a ball into the left field seats to make it 1-0. Betts now has eight home runs in his last 22 games, including two home runs in this series alone.

Edwin Rios followed that up in the fourth inning with a solo shot of his own, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

The Phillies offense had no response for Dodgers’ starter Tony Gonsolin who gave up just one run on three hits in his six innings of work.

The lone bright spot against Gonsolin was Garrett Stubbs, who smacked the first home run of his young career to make it a 2-1 ballgame in the sixth inning.

All seemed to be lost in the bottom of the ninth with the Phillies losing 2-1 and down to their final out. Nick Castellanos started a two-out rally with a double to left. Kyle Schwarber was then intentionally walked, and Jean Segura took care of business with an RBI single to tie the game 2-2.

The game was heading to extras, but the job was not done. Corey Knebel came in to pitch and after a walk and a fielder's choice, Trea Turner was able to bring Betts home on a single to right. The Dodgers took a 3-2 lead.

J.T. Realmuto started the bottom of the 10th on second base. Stubbs reached first on an infield single and advanced Realmuto to third. On the throw to third, Realmuto thought the ball was overthrown and he was tagged out trying to run home. 

After a Johan Camargo strikeout, all seemed lost for the Phillies who were down to their final out. Roman Quinn kept the inning alive with a rip into right field putting runners on second and third. 

It was all up to Alec Bohm who hit a ground ball to second base. The ball was bobbled by Max Muncy, giving both Stubbs and Quinn a chance to score. The Phillies walked it off with a two-run error in the infield. The perfect ending to an otherwise absurd game of baseball.

It wasn't pretty, but the Phillies found a way to avoid the series sweep. They struggled mightily on offense over the past week, but they found a spark late on Sunday. This could be the surge the offense needed to get back on track.

The Phillies will be back in action on Monday night in Atlanta for a game against the Braves. Zack Wheeler will take the mound against Tucker Davidson for a 7:20 p.m. first pitch. 

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