LOS ANGELES — The Phillies' pitching staff has had problems holding leads since the All-Star break but the only shakiness Tuesday took place during the seventh-inning stretch when a 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit L.A. for 10 seconds.
The rest of the night was smooth for Cristopher Sanchez, Matt Strahm and the Phillies in a 6-2 win.
A much-needed 6-2 win. It clinched them the season series and first tiebreaker over the Dodgers should the teams finish with the same record, and it ensured the Phils will leave town still possessing the best record in the National League, which they've held since the first week of May.
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Sanchez was named to the NL All-Star team as an injury replacement on July 13, three days after solidifying his candidacy with six impressive innings in a win over the Dodgers. That was also the last time the Phillies won a series. It's been nearly a month.
The lefty did it again on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, stifling Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Teoscar Hernandez and the rest. He exited with a three-run lead, two aboard and nobody out in the bottom of the seventh and Strahm kept the game right where it was, retiring Nick Ahmed, Kevin Kiermaier and Ohtani in order.
The two biggest plate appearances of a 14-hit night for the Phillies were Strahm vs. Ohtani in the seventh and Edmundo Sosa's bases-loaded at-bat the prior inning. Sosa delivered a two-out, two-run single off Freddie Freeman's glove into right field to double the Phillies' lead, and given they were 4-5 in the second half when scoring first, it was necessary insurance.
Sosa added a second layer of insurance in the top of the ninth with an opposite-field solo home run. He started at second base in place of Bryson Stott, who has been out of the lineup the last six times the Phillies faced a left-handed starter who was not an opener. Brandon Marsh, who has sat most of the season against lefties, did start against Clayton Kershaw. Marsh flied out to right and was hit by a pitch the two times he faced Kershaw, later walking to set up Sosa's key two-run knock.
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The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth when Austin Hays doubled and came around on a two-out single by Kyle Schwarber, who later added a towering homer off the foul pole in right.
Nick Castellanos singled twice and drove in a run. He was hitting .199 with a .572 OPS in 231 plate appearances through May 28 and has hit .281 with an .820 OPS in 238 plate appearances since.
The Phillies found something in the running game in the middle innings against Smith and the Dodgers' bullpen. Schwarber, Castellanos and Sosa all swiped second base in the Phillies' third turn through the batting order, which produced all of their runs until the ninth.
The only run Sanchez allowed came in the bottom of the sixth when Teoscar Hernandez hit a leadoff double and advanced twice on groundouts. Ohtani singled off him twice last month in Philly but Sanchez won all three matchups Tuesday, twice retiring the NL MVP frontrunner on the first pitch. He's also held Freeman to one hit in eight career at-bats.
The Phillies are 67-46 and have a chance Wednesday night to snap a streak of six consecutive series losses. Tyler Phillips (3-1, 4.39) is opposed by right-hander Gavin Stone (9-5, 3.63).