Phillies handle Dodgers again 5-1, complete the CBP sweep

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Phillies just seemed to get what they needed, when they needed it Thursday night in South Philadelphia during their 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Coming into the night with a 2-0 lead in the midweek series the Phils (60-32) were looking for their first sweep of the Dodgers (55-38) since 2008 - and they got it.

In the bottom of the first it was Trea Turner who got the party started for the Phillies with a solo home run (9) off Dodger pitcher Anthony Banda to make it 1-0 Phillies early on.

Home Run Stats: Exit Velocity - 100.5 MPH, Height - 95 FT., Distance - 383 FT., Wall Distance - 353 FT.

Turner is now hitting .452 (19-for-42) with six homers and 17 RBIs over his past ten games, absolutely tearing it up for the Phillies who were without Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber for a majority of that time.

Banda however would strike out Nick Castellanos to close out the inning and limit the damage to a run.

In the bottom of the second nonetheless, Brandon Marsh got a hold of one. Marsh sent a solo home run (9) out against Landon Knack to give Philly a 2-0 lead. 

Home Run Stats: Exit Velocity - 109.1 MPH, Height - 71 FT., Wall Distance - 343 FT., Distance - 406 FT.

In the top of the fifth it was Gavin Lux who supplied the lone run on the night for the Dodgers when he sent a solo home run (3) out of Aaron Nola to make it 2-1 Phillies.

Home Run Stats: Exit Velocity - 95.3 MPH, Wall Distance - 328 FT., Distance - 338 FT.

In the bottom of the sixth it was Marsh who struck again, this time with an RBI triple off Knack to make it 3-1 Phillies. 

Johan Rojas then quickly followed it up with an RBI single off Knack again which made it 4-1 Phillies. 

Knack, despite giving up four runs in relief after coming into the game in the second inning, still struck out five Phillies batters. 

In the top of the seventh Rojas made another play but this time on defense when he pulled into an outstanding grab on the warning track off the bat of Enrique Hernandez which kept the score at 4-1 Phillies.

Aaron Nola, who made it through just six innings with over a 100 pitches wasn’t able to go too long but still racked up nine strikeouts on his way to picking up his eleventh win on the year.

In the top of the eighth it was Jeff Hoffman who took the mound and loaded the bases up before working Miguel Rojas into a 4-6 line out double play. To keep the Phillies 4-1 lead safe.

In the bottom half of the inning Kyle Schwarber then lifted one (19) into the second deck of right field off of Ryan Yarbrough to give the Phils a 5-1 lead.

Home Run Stats: Exit Velocity - 108.8 MPH, Height - 80 FT., Wall Distance - 331 FT., Distance - 423 FT.

Jose Alvarado, despite his heavy workload throughout the series with the Dodgers, sealed the 5-1 Phillies win when Enrique Hernandez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the ninth. 

BSS POTG: Aaron Nola

Win: Aaron Nola, 11-4 (6.0 IP, ER, 9 K, 2 RBI)

Loss: Anthony Banda, 1-2 (1.0 IP, ER, 2 K, 0 BB)

With the win the Phillies advance to 61-32 (.656 PCT) on the season and presently hold a 9.0 game lead over the idle Atlanta Braves in the NL East. Following their sweep of the Dodgers the club shifts its focus to the Oakland Athletics who come to town starting tomorrow night for a three game series before heading into the All-Star break. You can see tomorrow night’s 6:40 PM EDT first pitch on NBCSP or listen on 94 WIP.