LOS ANGELES — Coming off a tough-to-swallow, late-innings loss the night before, the Phillies needed a rebound effort Tuesday night and Jake Arrieta gave it to them.
The veteran right-hander pitched like a stopper in leading a 6-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
For the second night in a row, the Phillies held a four-run lead and this time they held it. On Monday night, the Phils unraveled defensively in the eighth inning and the Dodgers rallied to win, 5-4.
Arrieta scattered six hits over seven shutout innings, walked two and struck out five. He threw 103 pitches.
Hector Neris took over in the eighth inning, struggled and lost the shutout. He gave up three hits and a run before manager Gabe Kapler saw enough and lifted him in favor of Tommy Hunter with one out. Hunter cooled the fire by getting two groundball outs on four pitches.
The Phils lengthened their lead in the top of the ninth and Edubray Ramos closed it out.
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Arrieta was backed by three runs in the second inning, one coming on a solo homer by Nick Williams and the other two coming on a two-run single by Odubel Herrera. Two of the runs were charged to Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda. He ended up leaving the game during the inning because of a hip strain. The Dodgers used six relievers to get through the rest of the game.
The Phillies padded their lead in the sixth when rookies Scott Kingery and Jorge Alfaro smacked back-to-back doubles.
That was more than enough support for Arrieta, who is 5-2 with a 2.16 ERA in 10 starts for the Phillies. He has allowed more than two earned runs in just one of those starts (see story).
The victory improved the Phillies to 30-22. They did not win their 30th game last season until after the All-Star break — July 16, to be exact.
One day after fouling a ball off his face, Rhys Hoskins did not start (see story). He did, however, come off the bench and deliver a pinch-hit double to left in the top of the ninth inning. Hoskins later scored on a hit up the middle by Maikel Franco. It was Franco’s 32nd RBI, briefly tying him for the team lead with Carlos Santana and Herrera. Santana quickly regained the lead with an RBI double two batters after Franco’s hit.
Franco did not start the game as Kapler gave utility man Pedro Florimon the nod at third base. Florimon, however, left the game in the first inning after fouling a pitch off his right foot and Franco entered. Florimon suffered a broken foot on the play and is headed to the disabled list.