{"id":231012,"date":"2025-09-16T09:26:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T09:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/231012\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T09:26:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T09:26:22","slug":"dodgers-fall-to-phillies-in-extras-hinder-shot-at-playoff-bye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/231012\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers fall to Phillies in extras, hinder shot at playoff bye"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Philadelphia came to Los Angeles having already clinched a playoff berth. With Monday\u2019s 6–<\/b>5 extra-inning win <\/a>over the Dodgers they added a division title to that collection, one they celebrated in the center of the Dodger Stadium infield, then with champagne in the tiny visitors\u2019 clubhouse.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers<\/a> are zeroing in on a playoff berth and division title of their own. So the chances are high the teams will meet again in the postseason, which makes this week\u2019s series a great opportunity to do a little scouting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to gather as much information as we can,\u201d infielder Miguel Rojas said. \u201cThey\u2019re doing the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not the main objective though. Because if the Dodgers are closing in the postseason, they aren\u2019t there yet. And they have even more work to do after Monday\u2019s game, which ended with Philadelphia\u2019s J.T. Realmuto\u2019s 10th-inning sacrifice fly scoring ghost runner Harrison Bader from third with the winning run.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers third base Max Muncy reacts to grounding out in the 10th inning, sealing the Philles\u2019 win Monday at Dodger Stadium.<\/p>\n

(Carlin Stiehl\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWith where we\u2019re at, I\u2019m trying to win every game,\u201d said manager Dave Roberts<\/a>, whose team fought back from deficits three times before losing. \u201cAnd where it falls out is where it falls out.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the things that both sides surely learned Monday is that the Dodger bullpen is still far from being playoff ready<\/a>. Because after Emmet Sheehan held the Phillies to one hit over 5\u2154 innings, striking out seven, he watched a quartet of relievers combine to give up four runs \u2014 three on homer runs \u2014 over the next four.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s frustrating, just from a team perspective,\u201d third baseman Max Muncy said of a bullpen that has blown 24 saves and ranks fourth in the National League with 30 losses.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unlikely to cost the Dodgers another trip to the postseason. Even with Monday\u2019s loss, they are two games in front of idle San Diego in the National League West with 12 games to play and their magic number for clinching an 11th division title in 12 seasons is 10.<\/p>\n

The magic number to clinch a wild-card berth is six.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers have also been eyeing the No. 2 seed in the postseason tournament, however, a spot Philadelphia holds and one that brings with it a bye in the first round. It\u2019s a break Roberts\u2019 battered roster could use, but it\u2019s one that may now be impossible to grasp: Monday\u2019s win pushed the Phillies\u2019 lead to 5\u00bd games in the race for No. 2, a deficit the Dodgers have less than two weeks to make up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to not face these games down the stretch like a playoff game,\u201d Rojas said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing this for almost two weeks now. That\u2019s the way that we have to look at it if we want to be prepared for October.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those preparations were uneven at best Monday. At the plate, the Dodgers fought back from deficits three times to send the game to extra innings on Andy Pages\u2019 solo homer with one out in the ninth. But they also went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and, after Muncy grounded out with the bases loaded in the 10th, they left nine men on base. That erased a big game from Mookie Betts, who drove in three runs on two sacrifice flies and a game-tying homer in the seventh.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts hits a home run in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Phillies at Dodger Stadium Monday.<\/p>\n

(Carlin Stiehl\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

That gave him 19 RBIs in September and his 78 for the season, three better than his total from all of last year. But that wasn\u2019t enough to overcome another bullpen meltdown.<\/p>\n

Sheehan followed opener Anthony Banda to the mound, taking the ball three batters in the game with the Phillies already leading 1-0 on Kyle Schwarber\u2019s league-leading 53rd home run. Sheehan left with a 3-1 lead after giving up his only hit, a leadoff double to Otto Kemp in the seventh. But three batters later the Phillies had a 4-3 lead after Weston Wilson, the Phillies No. 9 hitter, homered off Jack Dreyer.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers rallied to tie the game twice after that but each time the bullpen gave the lead back, the final run coming in the 10th on Realmuto\u2019s game-winning fly ball to right off right-hander Blake Treinen (1-5).<\/p>\n

Asked if the series will show the Dodgers anything that can use if they face the Phillies again next month, Muncy shook his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I don\u2019t necessarily think so,\u201d said Muncy, who third-inning homer, his first since returning from the injured list as week ago, opened the Dodgers\u2019 scoring. \u201cWe\u2019ve done that in the past. We\u2019ve played teams right before we\u2019ve seen them in the postseason and usually they do everything complete[ly] opposite.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, you\u2019re just trying to win a game. You\u2019re not really worried about what\u2019s ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notes<\/p>\n

Reliever Brock Stewart, the Dodgers\u2019 most-celebrated acquisition at the trade deadline, left Monday to join Oklahoma City for a two-game rehab assignment. Stewart, on the injured list since Aug. 12 with right shoulder inflammation, is expected to pitch Tuesday and Thursday in Triple A before returning to Dodger Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf all goes well, then we have a conversation over the weekend,\u201d Roberts said of Stewart\u2019s availability. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to make sure he\u2019s healthy. If he\u2019s right, then it could be very additive.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the second straight year Betts has been chosen as the Dodgers\u2019 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, baseball\u2019s most prestigious off-the-field prize, in recognition for his wide-ranging charity work.<\/p>\n

In January, Betts\u2019 5050 Foundation<\/a> donated more than $30,000 of Nike clothing to victims of the Southern California wildfires. A few weeks later, in partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF), he donated more than $160,000 to the Brotherhood Crusade to help fight hunger and homelessness in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Also this season the 5050 Foundation partnered with the Obama Foundation at Hyde Park Academy to donate youth sports equipment and other supplies while also funding the Mookie Betts Metro Baseball Tournament in Nashville.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Philadelphia came to Los Angeles having already clinched a playoff berth. With Monday\u2019s 6–5 extra-inning win over the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":231013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[124536,24336,1582,276,86539,8329,2442,24255,1910,2961,224,5337,9548,2749,1311,20414,1424,5950,6166,2452],"class_list":{"0":"post-231012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-break-roberts","9":"tag-bryce-harper","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-dead-center","13":"tag-dodger","14":"tag-dodgers","15":"tag-front","16":"tag-game","17":"tag-la","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-losangeles","20":"tag-monday","21":"tag-mookie-betts","22":"tag-philadelphia","23":"tag-phillies","24":"tag-playoff","25":"tag-season","26":"tag-series","27":"tag-week"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115213263672745891","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}