LOS ANGELES (AP) - With his team having homered twice to pull within a run in the ninth inning, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sent Justin Turner to the plate to keep the rally going.
Turner did just that, hitting the third consecutive homer off Hector Neris to open the inning and the Adrian Gonzalez’s tiebreaking RBI single capped the four-run rally to lift Los Angeles to a wild 6-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.
“You always want to get the tying run to the plate, so that’s why I put (pinch-hitter) Turner in and he responded,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers trailed 5-2 before Yasiel Puig and Cody Bellinger - who homered twice - hit the first two homers of the ninth, and Turner’s shot gave them three straight for the first time since Aug. 18, 2012.
With one out, Austin Barnes singled off Neris (0-1). Joely Rodriguez came in and got Andrew Toles to fly out, but Corey Seager singled and Gonzalez drilled a ball off third baseman Maikel Franco’s glove that rolled into left field scoring Barnes with the winning run from second.
“It had that topspin on the second hop and that makes it really tough for infielders,” Gonzalez said.
Grant Dayton (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the win.
The Phillies wasted a strong outing by Zach Eflin, who allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings.
“It’s crazy what happened,” Eflin said. “You just have to come back and forget about it. It’s baseball.”
Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin was disappointed with the outcome.
“What a way to lose,” Mackanin said. “One thing about Neris is for some reason he’s getting away from his split. He wants to throw more fastballs and that’s not going to work. He’s going to have to get back to that split. Whether he’s not feeling confident with it for some reason or not we have to get him back on track because he’s better than that.
“That’s one of the reasons I don’t want to name a closer because I don’t want to put a guy in that pressure even though I use him in that situation.”
Toles’ leadoff homer in the first got the lead for Los Angeles, but Brock Stassi connected for a three-run shot in the fourth against Brandon McCarthy. It was Stassi’s second homer of the season.
McCarthy lasted five innings and was charged with four runs and eight hits.
Daniel Nava upped Philadelphia’s lead to 4-1 with a two-out RBI single in the fifth that scored Odubel Herrera.
Philadelphia shortstop Freddy Galvis extended his hitting to 11 games with a sixth-inning single.
Bellinger, one of the majors’ top prospects, hit his first career homer off Eflin in the seventh. His second homer in the ninth trimmed Philadelphia’s lead to 5-4.
“I have never been a part of anything like this before,” Bellinger said. “It was crazy and I’m glad to be a part of it. I’m kind of speechless right now. I don’t even remember what I did.”
Phillies rookie Andrew Knapp also got his first career homer, going deep against Chris Hatcher in the eighth. Knapp finished with three hits.
WORTH NOTING
Turner extended his major league-leading hitting streak to 15 games with his homer in the ninth.
Both of Bellinger’s home-run balls were brought to him following the game.
GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS
McCarthy leads all major league pitchers with first pitch strikes (76.1 percent).
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: MacKinnon said RHP Aaron Nola (lower back strain) would not pitch as scheduled on Monday against the Chicago Cubs. Nola threw on Friday and reported soreness and tightness. MacKinnon said Nola will be re-evaluated and is day to day.
Dodgers: LHP Rich Hill (left middle finger blister) threw three innings and 48 pitches in a simulated game. Hill is scheduled to throw again Thursday. … LHP Grant Dayton (Intercostal strain) was activated. … Manager Dave Roberts said he hopes to activate both Jock Pederson (groin) and Logan Forsythe (fractured toe) in time to play Friday at San Diego.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Nick Pieta makes his major league debut Sunday in the series finale. Pieta started the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Dodgers: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryun (0-4, 4.64 ERA) goes for Los Angeles.
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