Trea Turner kicked at the infield dirt as the boos reached a fever pitch around him.
Read more A solution to the Phillies’ fifth-starter spot? Skip it. But only for now.
He’d just botched a routine grounder — first bobbling it, then pulling Bryce Harper off the bag with his throw — to record his 15th error of the year. The Phillies shortstop had squandered a chance to get Cristopher Sánchez out of a first-inning jam, and instead the Dodgers had loaded the bases. The fans let Turner hear it.
Redemption was soon coming. After successfully fielding the next grounder hit in his direction to end the top of the inning without damage, Turner got the crowd back on his side after sending Emmet Sheehan’s first pitch to left-center for a double.
And when the Phillies’ offense failed to drive him in, Turner took matters into his own hands. He blasted two home runs and recorded five RBIs in a 10-7 win over Los Angeles on Monday night.
But even as he found his swing, Turner continued to struggle defensively. In the fourth inning, Alex Call grounded a ball to left that went underneath Turner’s glove. In the sixth inning, a chopper from Andy Pages bounced off his glove and a run scored. In the ninth, a hard-hit grounder from Tommy Edman deflected off his knee.
All three were ruled singles by the official scorer, but were plays Turner could have made.
Turner has committed three errors in the last four games. He has also homered four times in the last four games.
This time, his error cost Sánchez a few pitches in the first. The Phillies lefty needed six pitches for his first two strikeouts, getting Shohei Ohtani and Pages to chase sliders out of the zone. But after Sánchez hit Edman in the foot with a 1-2 slider, things looked like they could spiral quickly.
Freddie Freeman lined a single to left before Turner’s error loaded the bases. Sánchez fell behind Miguel Rojas in the count, 3-1, before Rojas rolled one over to Turner for the third out.
Sánchez scattered seven hits and struck out seven. Four of those came on his slider, which he leaned on more than usual over 5 ⅓ innings. He was lifted after reaching 99 pitches, leaving two on base for Orion Kerkering in the sixth. Both inherited runners wound up scoring, bringing Sánchez’s total to three earned runs.
Read more Paramount Skydance’s $110B merger with Warner Bros. Discovery paused by judge
Pinch-hitting Max Muncy won a seven-pitch battle against Kerkering with a double that drove in one. Kerkering bounced back by striking out Dalton Rushing, and then intentionally walked Ohtani to load the bases.
Pages, who hit the bases-loaded grounder to Kerkering that eliminated the Phillies from the 2025 National League Division Series, stepped into the batter’s box instead. His chopper to Turner could have ended it there, but another run scored to bring the Dodgers within a run. Kerkering induced a flyout from Edman to preserve the lead.
Brandon Marsh, Harper, and Derek Hill, who each had cooled off somewhat after the All-Star break, hit solo homers that gave the Phillies some needed insurance.
Chase Shugart had a six-run cushion for the ninth, but the Dodgers made things interesting quickly. Pages drew a leadoff walk and Edman’s grounder that deflected off of Turner’s leg put runners on the corners. An RBI groundout scored a run, and then Mookie Betts delivered his second homer of the game to bring the Dodgers within three.
Closer Jhoan Duran took over, tasked with getting one out. He needed three pitches to retire Teoscar Hernández with a groundout — fielded by Turner.
Phillies owner John Middleton spent months planning to host the city’s first All-Star Game in 30 years. Now that it’s over, he joined Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to recap his most memorable moments from the week. He also discussed the upcoming trade deadline and Field of Dreams Game in Iowa, and the future of the top of the Phillies organizational masthead. Watch here. Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Previous episodes: Ryan Howard | Dan Baker | Ricky Bottalico | Preston Mattingly | Caleb Cotham | Larry Bowa | Joe Maddon | Rhys Hoskins | Terry Francona
Read more Flood watch issued for the Philly region as ‘several rounds’ of rain are expected Tuesday