Making his third start of the season, Kershaw gives up one run and five hits in 4⅔ encouraging innings before Graterol strains a hamstring eight pitches into his season debut in a 6-2 defeat.
LOS ANGELES — There was a shakeup on Tuesday, but it did not come at the top of the National League standings.
There was a possum sighting along the right field wall late in the game, only it was not the time to play dead.
With the top spot in the NL 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.
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.
The quake and the possum followed in the final three innings. What the Dodgers really needed was some lightning.
Adding to the mayhem was what appeared to be a season-ending hamstring injury to right-hander Brusdar Graterol just as he was making his season debut Tuesday following a shoulder injury. Graterol’s year likely will end after 2½ batters and eight pitches.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Brusdar, he’s been so good for us. He’s done a lot of good things, he’s pitched in a lot of big ballgames for us, postseason games. He had a tough road back and to come back to blow out – and it was a pretty good Grade 3 blowout – that’s (another) long road back. I feel terrible for him and his teammates.”
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 in Philadelphia last month.
Also gone is the Dodgers’ modest three-game winning streak, which felt like so much more in the wake of five loses in six games. Their NL West lead has dwindled to four games over the Padres.
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.
“Really, this one tonight, I felt pretty good overall,” Kershaw said. “Just made some dumb mistakes. A couple of guys got on base 0-2, which shouldn’t happen. Those are frustrating but I think overall, I think it’s another good step in the right direction.”
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 slider that the Phillies’ leadoff hitter dunked into center field for a 1-0 lead.
Roberts immediately removed Kershaw, ending his 81-pitch night.
“You want to win the game,” said Kershaw, who was pacing in the dugout after he was removed. “Health-wise, I’m fine. So we’re not worried about staying healthy. It’s just a matter of pitching good and being a contributing factor to helping this team win games.”
Kershaw (0-2) gave up five hits in 4⅔ innings with no walks and five strikeouts. It was a far cry from his outing last week in San Diego, when he gave up seven runs (three earned) over 3⅔ innings.
“I can speak about giving him time and a runway, but this guy is the greatest competitor I’ve ever been around and so the time for him is now,” Roberts said. “There was just a different look tonight. Coming off that last outing, you can see it. Anybody watching the game could see the conviction, the throws. He willed himself to have a quality outing.”
In the sixth, Graterol had to be helped off the field and down the dugout steps.
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 the game by allowing three runs on eight hits in 3⅔ innings.
“I thought Brent did a good job taking down the rest of the game and saved everyone else,” Roberts said. “We pushed him tonight. And when you’re in a stretch of 19 games in 20 days, you need guys who can do that.”
Help is on the way for the bullpen Wednesday. Roberts said that right-hander Michael Grove has recovered from a right lat injury and will be activated to the roster.
