LOS ANGELES — With the top spot in the National League on the line and Clayton Kershaw piling up zeroes, Tuesday resembled so many high-energy nights of the past 17 years as the sun began to set.
Nighttime changed the mood entirely.
With an earthquake giving Dodger Stadium a light rumble in the seventh inning and a possum running along the right field wall in the ninth there was plenty of action, just not from the Dodgers’ offense.
One strike away from five scoreless innings, Kershaw instead gave up a two-out RBI single to Kyle Schwarber that started the Phillies on their way to a 6-2 victory.
Not only did first place in the NL fail to change hands, the Dodgers fell 1½ games back while also dropping the season series to the Phillies, who earned a three-game sweep at Philadelphia last month. Their NL West lead dwindled to four games over the Padres.
Also gone is the Dodgers’ modest three-game winning streak that felt like so much more in the wake of five loses in six games.
With a fastball that never reached 92 mph, Kershaw was at his crafty best early. The veteran of nearly two decades gave up just three hits over four scoreless innings and had four strikeouts.
Opening the fifth inning in a scoreless game, the three-time Cy Young Award winner got Nick Castellanos to fly out before Austin Hays doubled. Brandon Marsh was hit by a pitch but Edmundo Sosa struck out. With the count full to Schwarber, Kershaw let go of an 88-mph fastball that the Phillies’ leadoff hitter dunked into center field for a 1-0 lead.
In an 81-pitch outing, Kershaw (0-2) gave up five hits in 4⅔ innings with no walks and five total strikeouts. It was a far cry from his outing last week at San Diego when he gave up seven runs (three earned) over 3⅔ innings.
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More trouble arrived in the sixth. After a season-long shoulder injury, Dodgers right-hander Brusdar Graterol made his season debut but he had to be helped off the field after eight pitches with a right hamstring strain.
Alec Bohm singled and J.T. Realmuto worked a walk off Brent Honeywell Jr. that was charged to Graterol. Castellanos followed with an RBI single. Hays struck out before Brandon Marsh walked to load the bases and Sosa followed with a two-run single for a 4-0 lead.
Teoscar Hernandez scored a run on a Will Smith ground out in the sixth inning and hit his 25th home run in the eighth, but offensive production was minimal as he provided two of the Dodgers’ seven hits. One of those hits was a double by Freddie Freeman in the first inning, the 500th of his career.
The Phillies put the game away with back-to-back home runs from Sosa and Schwarber off Honeywell, who finished off the game by allowing three runs on eight hits in 3⅔ innings.
More to come on this story.
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