SerpApi.Org
In the 1980s, Coca-Cola infamously introduced a reformulated version of their signature soda that ended up going by the name New Coke. It didn’t go over very well: sales slumped, chastened executives were forced to reintroduce the classic Coke, and conspiracy theories about the revamped recipe being a scheme to juice sales of the rescued original recipe spread. Tonight, Aaron Nola pitched in front of a Coca-Cola logo drawn into the mound dirt. Like that vaunted soft drink, Nola has two recipes: Nola Classic, a highly effective, if not quite ace-level, pitcher, and New Nola, the struggling hurler whose long-ball nemesis often gets the better of him. Will Coca-Nola Classic ever make a permanent return to the beverage aisle? We hope so. But tonight, we got the not-so-sweet taste of New Nola, as the Dodgers took the series.
Nola got the night started off right with a one-pitch out of Shohei Ohtani. Alec Bohm got it started off even more right with a two-run shot to left in the bottom first. In the second, Nola struck out Max Muncy on a classic knuckle curve, then put out the next two Angelenos down on fly balls. It was smooth sailing at first for the Louisianan hurler. And it continued that way through the first two outs of the third. Then, unfortunately, came the familiar refrain, the song of the summer that you wish the radio would stop playing: a homer, this one courtesy of Dalton Rushing, to narrow the lead to one.
He encountered more trouble in the fourth. Freddie Freeman doubled, then did the little dance, both arms up and waving buoyantly, that the Dodgers apparently do after hits. It is said that this dance actually traces its origins back to the Brooklyn days, when the early Dodgers used it to hone the reflexes that were necessary for the dodging of trolleys; it is still extant despite the loss of its purpose, rather like the appendix. Max Muncy singled to put two runners on, but Nola was able to wrap the inning up without further damage.
The same could not be said of the fifth. Nola allowed singles to Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman, then a two-bagger to Rushing to score two and give the visitors the lead. Ohtani was given an intentional walk. The move paid off, as Ohtani became part of a twin killing that ended the frame. But the damage was done, and the lead was lost.
Not for long. Bryan De La Cruz sent a fastball flying towards the greenery of the batter’s eye as the first batter in the Phillie fifth. Andy Pages stretched out his arm, and for a moment it looked as if he’d come down with it. Like a bank robber foiled by the dye packs in a sack of cash, his would-be burglary was foiled at the last second, with the ball glancing off his leather and landing safely over the fence to tie the game. Bryson Stott doubled, but was put out on a baserunning blunder; dredging up some bad memories from the not-so-distant past.
Nola allowed a leadoff double to Freeman in the second, then a homer to Muncy on a changeup that stayed high. Nola put down Mookie Betts on a backwards K, and was then replaced by Seth Johnson, who navigated the rest of the inning without incident. He came out for the seventh, allowed a single, and was replaced with Tim Mayza, who induced a double play ball from Ohtani.
He had the eighth as well, encountering trouble as Pages singled and Freddy Freeman walked. A double steal put runners on second and third, none away. Mayza made Muncy pop up foul for the first out, and was then replaced with Orion Kerkering. Kerkering walked his first batter on four pitches, and the bases were loaded. He allowed a sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers a three run lead, then walked the bases full once more. He got Tommy Edman to 0-2, but ended up surrendering a three-run triple. Edman did the wiggle-dance thing.
The Phillies offense fizzed a bit in the eighth, with Trea Turner and Bryce Harper walking. Bohm singled to score the former, but the would-be rally fizzled.
Alex McFarlane was called in for his major league debut in the ninth. Shohei Ohtani was up next. That’s highly intimidating no matter who you are. It must be especially intimidating if you’ve jumped straight to the Show from AA, never having pitched to anyone at the AAA level. But if McFarlane was tense, he didn’t show it: he quickly put Ohtani out on a single pitch (good contact, but not enough). The joy of the debut was quickly cut short, as Rafael Marchán suddenly left with an injury. J.T. Realmuto came in. Beyond the dismay of the injury, the only blemish McFarlane’s debut was a lone single allowed to Freeman.
The Phillies fought back in the ninth, with Marsh singling and Realmuto scoring him, but the game was out of reach, and the Dodgers took the series.
The Phillies are 56-47. They’ll start a three-game set against the Yankees on Friday.
