Struggling Dodgers can’t keep up as Phillies win 3-game series – Orange County Register

Philadelphia Phillies’ Nick Castellanos (left) scores on a Brandon Marsh triple past Dodgers catcher Will Smith in the sixth inning Thursday night in Philadelphia. The Phillies completed a three-game sweep in the showdown between the NL division leaders with a 5-1 victory. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

PHILADELPHIA — The score was 0-0 after the first inning at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday night. For the Dodgers, this was the high point of the series.

They trailed at the end of every other inning of the three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies, who completed a sweep with a 5-1 victory on Thursday night.

If the Dodgers looked to the series against the team with the best record in baseball as a yardstick to determine where they stand in the National League hierarchy, the Phillies took that yardstick and smacked them over the head with it. The Phillies soundly beat the Dodgers 10-1 in the series opener on Tuesday night, won a close game on Wednesday and pulled away on Thursday. The Phillies’ sweep was their first victory over the Dodgers in Philadelphia since May 2004.

The weakened Dodgers have now lost eight of their last 12 games and face the All-Star break with the look of a drowning man looking at a pool noodle. The Dodgers have barely been a winning team since another “barometer” series in New York against the Yankees last month (14-13).

To minimize the damage from the dangerous left-handers at the top of the Phillies lineup (Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper), the Dodgers started with left-hander Anthony Banda. Sitting between Schwarber and Harper, right-hander Trea Turner hit a solo home run against Banda.

Since leaving the Dodgers as a free agent after the 2022 season, Turner has gone 16-of-37 (.432) with three home runs and seven RBIs in nine games against his former team. In this series, he was 7-of-12 with two home runs and scored more runs (six) than the Dodgers as a team (five).

Landon Knack followed Banda and allowed a home run to Brandon Marsh, the first batter he faced. Things got better for a while, but in the sixth inning the Phillies were back on him. A bloop single dropped in front of center fielder James Outman. Marsh hit a triple into the right field corner and Johan Rojas hit a single through a drawn-in infield to score a second run.

The Dodgers were fortunate to be without Ranger Suarez, the NL ERA leader (and favorite for the Cy Young Award), for this series, but they faced pitchers who rank second (Zack Wheeler), fourth (Christopher Sanchez) and 14th (Aaron Nola) in the league in ERA.