LOS ANGELES—Teoscar Hernández hit a tiebreaking, two-run home run in the third inning, Shohei Ohtani went deep in the eighth, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5–3 on Monday night, August 5, in a matchup of National League division leaders.
Winning pitcher Tyler Glasnow (9–6) struck out nine while giving up three runs and four hits in six innings. The right-hander has notched a career-high 164 strikeouts this season.
Glasnow retired the side in order four times, including getting Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper on swinging strikeouts in the first.
“I felt a little out of whack,” Glasnow said. “The positive today for me was just ignore how I feel and just go and try and attack the zone.”
Harper struck out three times in all as the East-leading Phillies lost for the seventh time in their past eight games after taking a 2–0 lead with two outs in the second. Bryson Stott had an RBI infield single and then scored on a wild pitch by Glasnow.
Freddie Freeman returned to the Dodgers’ lineup after missing eight games while tending to his ailing 3-year-old son. Freeman was 1 for 4 and received a standing ovation before his first at-bat. Harper later greeted Freeman with a hug at first base.
“It was really cool to see people rally around Freddie and the Freeman family,” Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts said.
Ohtani added, “It was very touching.”
The West-leading Dodgers rallied with four runs in the third. Andy Pages hit an RBI double into the left-field corner, and Ohtani tied the game 2–2 with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right for his 80th RBI of the season. Hernández followed with his 24th homer to left for a 4–2 lead off Aaron Nola (11–5).
Daniel Hudson pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his eighth save.
After Schwarber singled in the sixth, Glasnow wasn’t able to put Harper away with two strikes, and he doubled down the left-field line. Schwarber scored on Alec Bohm’s RBI groundout, drawing the Phillies within 4–3.
Dodgers reliever Anthony Banda pitched a scoreless eighth, stranding Schwarber and Bohm.
Ohtani’s 34th homer extended the Dodgers’ lead to 5–3 leading off the bottom of the eighth. Center fielder Brandon Marsh made a futile leap at the wall as Ohtani circled back to first, apparently to make sure he had touched the base before completing his home run trot.
“Just be able to give breathing room at the end of the game is really key for winning,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.
The Dodgers ended a four-game skid against the Phillies, which was their longest active losing streak against any opponent. They were swept in three games in Philadelphia last month, with Nola winning one of the games.
“He just made more mistakes than he did in Philly,” Roberts said.
Will Smith and Kiké Hernández were the only Dodgers without a hit.
