Before we get into last night’s game, I wanted to let you know that we are recording a podcast tonight. It will be Jarred Barnes (JSB) and myself. Jarred is a big Pittsburgh guy so if you have any questions, Pirates-related, Phillies-related, or just in general, let us know and we’ll try to answer them for you! Leave them in comments or shoot us a DM!

The Philadelphia Phillies continued their series at Dodger Stadium last night falling 8-2 at the hands of Dodgers Starting Pitcher Ross Stripling and OF Matt Kemp. Stripling looked sharp only allowing one run, four hits, and striking out nine over seven innings. Kemp drove four runs going 2 for 4 with a double, a home run, and a sacrifice fly.

Zach Eflin started for the Phillies and struggled to locate his pitches. Eflin allowed five runs, seven hits, and two homers over four innings. This makes two straight starts where Eflin hasn’t had his best stuff and the opposition has jumped all over him–three straight if you include his start in St Louis where he only allowed two runs but didn’t finish the fifth inning. While it is a bit of a cause for concern, Eflin is only 24 so a bit of inconsistency when coming back from an injury is to be expected. The rest of the bullpen didn’t pitch much better as Victor Arano allowed two runs and four hits over two innings while Drew Hutchison allowed the Dodgers’ eighth and final run over two innings. I can’t criticise the bullpen too much when the starter isn’t setting the tone.

Offensively, while the Phillies got 8 hits, they couldn’t get them in succession and only managed to get four runners into scoring position, going 1 for 6 in that situation. The real highlight was that the Phillies struck out 13 times, that’s nearly half of the outs they’re given! Nick Williams hit his second home run in as many games bringing him up to six for the season. Jorge Alfaro knocked his sixth double, Cesar Hernandez picked up his 21st RBI and really, that’s about it for Phillies offensively. It was a tough night for the Phillies as a whole and it’s hard to spin it when the opposing pitchers are dealing.

In other news, it announced before the game that Rhys Hoskins has a fracture in his jaw from the foul ball he hit off his face Monday night. Previously, it had seemed that he was just incredibly swollen and would be back into the lineup shortly–he even pinch-hit Tuesday night. Most likely, Rhys will go on the 10-Day DL but the Phils are getting him a second opinion to determine if he needs surgery or not. Needless to say, I wasn’t too pleased with the news:

For the second-straight night, Aaron Altherr and Nick Williams started in right and left, respectively. With how Williams has been hitting in May, it won’t be the worst thing in the world to have him in left field and his lightning fast speed is always a welcome addition. Hopefully starting every day will get Altherr back above the Mendoza line.

To replace Pedro Florimon, the Phillies called up Mitch Walding from the Iron Pigs. Walding slashed .271/.379/.484 with 7 HR and 21 RBI in 48 games in AAA so once he gets his barrings in the show, his bat could provide some extra pop for the club.

The Phillies and Dodgers wrap up their four-game set tonight at 7:35 ET with a marquee pitching matchup. Aaron Nola (6-2) looks to stay hot against Clay Kershaw (1-4) in Kershaw’s first start since hitting the DL about a month ago. I have a feeling my recap for this game won’t be praising either offense.

What did you guys think of the game? Who should get called up if Rhys does go on the DL? Let me know in comments!

(cover photo via)