LA Dodgers 15, Philadelphia 5
When: 7:05 PM ET, Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Where: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Temperature:
89°
Umpires:
Home -
Ron Kulpa, 1B -
Chris Conroy, 2B -
Jerry Meals, 3B -
Paul Nauert
Attendance:
28118
By The Sports Xchange
PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Phillies' fans gave Chase Utley an ovation he will never forget Tuesday night.
Then he reminded them just what they are missing.
Utley hit a grand slam and solo homer in his return to Philadelphia as the Los Angeles Dodgers battered the Phillies 15-5.
"No doubt a little extra adrenaline is flowing," said Utley, traded to the Dodgers last Aug. 19 after spending nearly 13 years with the Phillies. "Adrenaline can be your friend at times. There was a lot of adrenaline flowing tonight."
The 37-year-old Utley, a six-time All-Star in Philadelphia, was accorded a long standing ovation before he led off the first. He doffed his helmet toward the crowd as well as his long-time teammate, Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, before entering the batter's box.
The fans continued cheering, however, and he then waved to them. In all the ovation, which he called "completely overwhelming,'' lasted 1 minute, 14 seconds.
"I should be thanking them," he said.
His solo homer came off Phillies starter Vince Velasquez (8-5) during Los Angeles' three-run fifth inning and his grand slam was off reliever Michael Mariot during an eight-run seventh. He now has 10 homers this season, three against his former team.
"I don't think you can script it any better for him tonight," Howard said.
Utley, 2-for-4 with five RBIs in the game, also acknowledged a curtain call from the fans after each of his homers.
"I understand," Velasquez said. "He's a legend here."
Manager Pete Mackanin was no less understanding.
"I get it, but I'd prefer not to talk about it," he said. "As much as I admire him, I'm sure he came in here to beat us, and he did a lot of damage. I wish we did that."
It was the 23rd multi-homer game of Utley's career, and the slam was his seventh. His last grand slam, and last multi-homer game, came May 28 against the New York Mets.
Howie Kendrick went 4-for-5 with a two-run homer for the Dodgers, and Yasmani Grandal went 3-for-4 with a two-run shot. Both drove in three runs.
Los Angeles piled up 14 hits in support of rookie right-hander Kenta Maeda, who went six innings to extend his personal winning streak to four. He is 12-7 this season.
Cameron Rupp, Cesar Hernandez and Ryan Howard homered for the Phillies, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end.
Velasquez, 0-3 in six starts since the All-Star break, went 5 2/3 innings and yielded five runs and seven hits, including three home runs. He struck out 10, his third double-digit strikeout game this season, and walked one.
Maeda, a 28-year-old who spent his first eight professional seasons in his native Japan, allowed two runs and three hits in his six innings. He struck out nine and walked one.
With two outs and the bases empty in the second, Rupp lined Maeda's first pitch, a curveball, over the fence in center field for his 14th homer of the season.
Kendrick hit a two-run homer with one out in the fifth. One out later, Utley added his solo shot on a 2-2 fastball from Velasquez, giving the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.
With two outs in the sixth Adrian Gonzalez singled and Grandal ripped Velasquez's 1-2 fastball over the fence in left center, his 19th of the year, to increase the Los Angeles lead to 5-1.
Hernandez, who earlier in the game extended his on-base streak to 22 games, made it 5-2 when he lined Maeda's 2-1 fastball into the right-field seats in the sixth, his third homer of the season.
The Dodgers broke it open in the seventh. With one out and the bases loaded Philadelphia reliever Elvis Araujo hit Gonzalez with a pitch to force in a run. Then Araujo issued a pair of walks to bring two more home.
Mariot replaced him and with two outs surrendered an RBI single to pinch hitter Rob Segedin. Utley followed by hitting Mariot's 1-1 pitch into the seats in right, making it 13-2.
Howard hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh, his 18th of the year and the 375th of his career. He moved past Rocky Colavito and into sole possession of 76th on the all-time list.
The Phillies made it 13-5 on a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Tommy Joseph in the eighth, but Kendrick tripled home a run in the ninth. He later scored on Segedin's infield out.
NOTES: Dodgers 2B Chase Utley was part of five straight National League East title teams in Philadelphia (2007-11). He helped the team win the World Series in 2008 and the National League pennant the following season, but the trade to Los Angeles last August came late at night, well after a Phillies game concluded. "I didn't really have the opportunity to say goodbye," he said before the game. "Everything happened pretty quickly last year. ... If I had to write up a script, it would have gone a little bit different." ... The Dodgers reinstated RHP Casey Fien (right elbow tendinitis) from the disabled list and optioned RHP Brook Stewart to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Fien pitched a scoreless inning in relief Tuesday. ... Los Angeles also released OF-1B Zach Walters, who was designated for assignment Sunday.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
LA Dodgers
|
13 |
4 |
29 |
.325 |
16 |
12 |
15 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
Philadelphia
|
8 |
3 |
17 |
.235 |
8 |
13 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
1 |