LOS ANGELES — While Freddie Freeman received a warm embrace, Teoscar Hernandez and Shohei Ohtani earned the loudest cheers as the Dodgers tapped into the love and support with their own statement on Monday night.
In a battle of the top two teams in the National League, the Dodgers turned a four-run third inning into a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Hernandez hit a two-run home run in the third and Ohtani hit a solo shot in the ninth as the Dodgers moved a half-game off the Phillies’ NL lead. They also won a third consecutive game following a 10-day stumble when they were just 2-6. That run included five losses in six games to open a three-city road trip.
Freeman did not play in any of those road games as he stayed by the side of his 3-year-old son through a bout with an autoimmune disorder that caused temporary paralysis and required intubation in order to breathe.
Freeman had an emotional 30-minute press conference before Monday’s game and fought back tears amid the crowd’s support during his first at-bat, eventually striking out in the first inning.
Freeman later singled in the third, immediately following a two-run home run from Hernandez that gave the Dodgers a 4-2 lead.
As his son Maximus began to improve in recent days, Freeman worked out at El Modena High School and was pleasantly surprised with what he felt was a competitive swing.
“Saturday, I went to my high school and I threw with my dad, I ran the bases and I hit on the field,” said Freeman, who had a third-inning single. “And then (Sunday) I did the same thing. And my body responded. I was OK. So that’s why we (are here) today.”
The Dodgers also used the weekend to regroup, earning a 10-0 victory at Oakland on Saturday night before leaning into the bullpen for a 3-2 victory over the A’s on Sunday afternoon.
Like the Dodgers, the Phillies also have struggled of late. Philadelphia looked every bit the best team in the NL when it rolled to a three-game home sweep over the Dodgers just before the All-Star break.
But the Phillies lost six consecutive games before pulling off a 6-0 road victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. The Phillies entered with a 4-11 record since the break as they are in the midst of a 22-game streak against teams currently .500 or better.
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The Phillies’ offense did not have enough answers for Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who gave up three runs while striking out nine in six innings, including strikeouts of all three batters in the first inning.
Glasnow (9-6) now has a career-best 164 strikeouts this season, while tying his career best with his 21st start. In his previous outing, last Tuesday at San Diego, Glasnow set a career high in innings for a season.
The bullpen did the rest, with new addition Michael Kopech pitching a scoreless seventh inning and Anthony Banda doing the same in the eighth, including strikeouts of Bryce Harper and Brandon Marsh. Harper went 1 for 4 and struck out three times.
After Ohtani hit his NL-leading 34th home run of the season in the eighth for a two-run lead, right-hander Daniel Hudson pitched a scoreless ninth for his eighth save.
More to come on this story.
Welcome back, Freddie. #MaxStrong pic.twitter.com/F12XTTLoqE
— MLB (@MLB) August 6, 2024
Teoscar jumps on the first pitch to give the #Dodgers a 2-run lead! #LetsGoDodgers pic.twitter.com/9MKAiOhxA5
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) August 6, 2024
Shohei pops his 34th homer of the season as the #Dodgers pad the lead.
Catch all the action on #DodgersTV at no extra cost for Spectrum customers with both Internet and mobile services. : https://t.co/i0HWddg9k0 pic.twitter.com/fIA0BZwhM3
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) August 6, 2024
“To be able to win with Freddie being back for the first time was important for us.” @kirsten_watson caught up with Shohei Ohtani to talk about his insurance homer in the 8th and Freddie’s return.
Catch all the action on #DodgersTV at no extra cost for Spectrum customers with… pic.twitter.com/84BxYXRnRN
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) August 6, 2024
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