Rafael Marchán hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the ninth inning to help the Philadelphia Phillies secure a 9-6 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night. The victory followed the Phillies clinching their second consecutive NL East title on Monday.
Marchán described his reaction after hitting the ball: “I knew I hit the ball good,” he said. “When I saw it hit the small wall, I just tried to jump. I was excited.”
The Phillies faced Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani for the first time. Ohtani threw five no-hit innings and used seven different pitches before being removed due to pitch limitations following right elbow surgery last year. Marchán commented, “He’s like the stud that he is. He’s really special. But they took him out. They took him out and we had a chance and we won the game.”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson emphasized the importance of home-field advantage in potential postseason matchups: “It doesn’t matter what team it is,” Thomson said. “We play better at home than on the road. … Getting home-field advantage is always crucial.”
With Tuesday’s win, Philadelphia now holds a 6 1/2-game lead over Los Angeles for the No. 2 seed in the National League playoffs, effectively extending their lead due to holding a tiebreaker over L.A., with ten games remaining in the regular season. The Phillies are also 1 1/2 games behind Milwaukee for the top seed.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts noted before Tuesday’s game that his team was aware of possible future encounters with Philadelphia: “They’re gathering information potentially for a rematch,” Roberts said.
After Ohtani exited, Marchán broke up L.A.’s no-hit bid with a single in the sixth inning, sparking a rally that included hits from Harrison Bader and Kyle Schwarber and an RBI double by Bryce Harper. Brandon Marsh then gave Philadelphia its first lead with a three-run homer.
Despite Shohei Ohtani hitting his 50th home run of the season—joining Babe Ruth as one of only two players to achieve this milestone while recording strikeouts as a pitcher—the Dodgers’ bullpen could not hold off Philadelphia’s offense late in the game.
Kyle Schwarber spoke about facing Ohtani: “To be able to get eyes on him and see that the way the ball comes out, the way that the different pitches move … familiarity is always nice to have whenever you’re facing someone,” Schwarber said. “I felt like we saw a pretty good version of him tonight. He was always around the zone the whole time. Moving forward, if we do see him, we feel like we can have somewhat of a better understanding of what the ball’s going to do.”
Brandon Marsh reflected on Marchán’s decisive home run: “I was ready to run onto the field, like we were in the bottom of the ninth,” Marsh said. “It was a whole lot of fun.”
