Trea Turner’s Roller Coaster Night Propels Phillies To Explosive 10-7 Victory Over Dodgers

To call Monday night’s game against the Dodgers an emotional roller coaster would be severely overestimating roller coasters. There was both dominance and inconsistency from the lineup, the bullpen, and the starter. Even manager Don Mattingly fell into this trap. It was a wild game to say the least.

However, when the dust settled, and much dust there was. The Phillies had an offensive explosion to take Game 1 of the three-game series, 10-7. The win was the 1,000th at Citizens Bank Park in their 1,784th regular season game. It is the fastest in any ballpark in franchise history, passing the Baker Bowl, which reached 1,000 wins in its 1,793rd game in 1919.

Heading into the game, there were clear concerns. The Phillies have had severe bullpen issues over the last month, and really as a whole this season. The bullpen was a major factor in the Phillies’ NLDS loss to the Dodgers. The Phillies have also had major offensive inconsistency, something that is common for this Phillies core, and has affected playoff series like the NLDS against the Dodgers, as well as most recently struggling to score runs against a not-so-stellar New York Mets pitching this past weekend.

Now, when offensive inconsistencies arrive, it helps to have your ace take the mound to take some pressure off your offense. That did not happen, however; instead, the offense took pressure off of Cristopher Sanchez‘s back.

Sanchez began the night with two quick strikeouts against Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages. Three runners were then let on to load the bases, mainly due to Trea Turner misplaying a Mookie Betts grounder. That error was the first of four misplays by Turner on the night; however, he ended up having an excellent evening.

Sanchez continued to perform well but had a difficult night. He did good work in keeping Dodgers hitters off balance and limiting damage when runners got on. However, many Dodgers runners got on; Sanchez allowed seven hits and didn’t get through the sixth inning. The Dodgers’ dangerous lineup did a very good job at getting Sanchez’s pitch count up, and consistently would get at least a man on base.

Mattingly decided to go to the bullpen early. After Sanchez allowed two Dodgers on with only one out in the sixth, Orion Kerkering was brought in. Kerkeing struggled, allowing two runners to score; however, he was able to maintain the lead entering the bottom half of the inning.

Even with the struggles in the bullpen on the night. Allowing four runs as a whole, they were able to be held up by an offensive explosion. An explosion centered around the $300 million shortstop, Turner.

On the defensive end, Turner was absolutely atrocious. Four misplays, with only one of which was called an error. Even with the defensive miscues, Turner had an electric night.

He started the Phillies’ night with a double, then collected two more hits, both being home runs. He capped off a four-run second inning with a two-run blast. Then blasted a three-run homer to cap off a four-run sixth inning. That three-run homer was Turner’s 200th career home run.

Turner was a major cog in the Phillies’ offense being dominant. However, it did not spend the whole game that way. The Phillies failed to capitalize on a bases-loaded opportunity in the first, and only collected one hit after the second until that four-run sixth.

Part of the dominance, however, was that the whole lineup produced. Outside of Kyle Schwarber and Alec Bohm, each hitter, including a subbed-in Derek Hill, collected a hit, totaling 11 hits as a whole on the night, including a season-high five home runs.

A night like Monday night showed that the Phillies have an unreal ability to blow up as an offense. And when the pitching staff adds dominance, even teams like the Dodgers will struggle.

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