Phillies 2, Dodgers 0: Shutout for 1st time since 2019

Well, they certainly needed all those beers tonight.

Winners of seven of their last eight, including three in a row, and going for a series sweep of the Phillies, the Dodgers were shutout for the first time since 2019 in a 2-0 loss.

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Clayton Kershaw got off to a bit of a rough start tonight, giving up a solo shot to Rhys Hoskins for an early 1-0 deficit.

.@rhyshoskins is very into red jerseys on the road.

Lucky 13 for the Big Fella. 🤘 #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/ehcIQsDCAE

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 17, 2021

After giving up a double in the 2nd but keeping the box score clean, he gave up a one-out infield single (that should’ve been an out) and then a two-out double to J.T. Realmuto to make it 2-0. Kershaw also faced trouble in the 4th (double) and the 5th (two singles and a walk), but managed to work out of it both times.

Generally he’s been able to avoid disaster due to having more swing-and-miss stuff this month than before: 6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 9 K, 110 Pitches.

6 innings and 9 strikeouts in every start, yes. Thank you, Eric. https://t.co/NnNs4yj6Ik

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 17, 2021

Phil Bickford continued his momentum, throwing two shutout innings before giving way to David Price, who faced the minimum in the 9th thanks to a double play.

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Zack Wheeler is one of the best pitchers in the majors this year, and while he wasn’t at his best, he showed why he was so good in the process. The Dodgers lineup had scoring chances in the 1st (bases loaded), 3rd (walk and single), and 5th (single and walk), but couldn’t capitalize on any of them.

Wheeler ended up going six shutout, and the only positive is they at least got him out of the game.

Analytics ran the numbers and Wheeler was gonna shit on them no matter what so Roberts ran out the surrender lineup is all I got. https://t.co/I01XcEu6st

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 16, 2021

Jose Alvarado entered in the 7th throwing smoke, setting down six consecutive batters with 99-101 mph fastballs without a hint of control problems.

Hector Neris then got the 9th looking for the save. While he hit two batters, he also induced a double play and faced just one over the minimum.

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The Dodgers fall to 41-27 on the season and 2 games back of the Giants in the NL West.

After a day off tomorrow, they will play at 3:40 PM HST/6:40 PM PST/9:40 PM EST in Arizona against the Diamondbacks. Trevor Bauer will look to stop the streak of mediocre showings against Caleb Smith.