PHILADELPHIA — I thought I would be miserable going to this game, watching two teams I hate (the Phillies and the Dodgers) ride high on their own egos amid overpriced concessions that jam a “ph” everywhere an “f” should be. I did it only so that I would finally get to see Shohei Ohtani play in person. But where was the phantastic two-way player, six-time all-star, and four-time MVP? Certainly not in the City of Brotherly Love. Whatever phacsimile was at the plate went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and an intentional walk. In other words, the most Ohtani did in that game was have a reputation for being a threat. Yes, I know players have bad games. But I’ve seen enough to understand that Shohei Ohtani is nothing compared to baseball’s real two-way player, Trea Turner, who was such an important force for both teams that he was responsible for almost half the runs scored in the Phillies' 10-7 win.
When Turner played short, ostensibly trying to help the Phillies prevent runs, everything hit his way turned to butter. Only one of his mishaps was ruled an error—a dropped ground ball from Mookie Betts in the top of the first which allowed the Dodgers to load the bases—but his defense assisted Los Angeles in several different ways. In the fourth inning, Turner misplayed a grounder from Alex Call to produce a single instead of a third out. In the sixth, he bobbled Andy Pages’s ground ball when he could have ended the inning with a simple throw to first, allowing Teoscar Hernandez to score. In the ninth, he misplayed Tommy Edman’s line drive up the middle to allow another runner on base and advance Pages.
But also, because Turner is such a great two-way player, he hit two home runs and a double, bringing in a total of phive runs for the Phillies. His dual loyalty was so confusing that those in the ballpark couldn’t decide how to feel about him. When Turner stepped up to bat, they booed, then cheered, then decided simply to make ambiguous noise.
The game likely left the Dodgers front office simultaneously glad that they let Turner go and nostalgic for those two seasons in which he was their bumbling little idiot with a bat of gold. Not that they seem to need his offense to win the NL West yet again. The Dodgers showcased their depth on a night when Ohtani looked like an overboiled string bean, Kyle Tucker was slumping so bad they didn’t let him touch the bat, and Freddie Freeman contributed nothing. After a recent shaky stretch of games, Mookie Betts turned into Trea Turner (if Trea Turner could actually play shortstop), going 4-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI. Andy Pages had two hits and a walk, and pinch-hitting Max Muncy earned an RBI double in the sixth that helped L.A. cut the lead to 4-3.
Too bad that wasn’t enough to dent a Phillies team that seemed to squeak and spatter their way to 10 runs. When I was interviewed for this internship, Ray Ratto asked me, “Kyle Schwarber: threat or menace?” Well, Ray, after watching this game I have my answer: bedraggled teddy bear. Schwarber was hit by a pitch once and then struck out thrice, continuing his abysmal July. Cristopher Sanchez was not up to his typical form either, allowing three runs and seven hits in 5.1 innings pitched. Meanwhile, Derek Hill, a player who's been on five teams in the last three seasons, continues to be one of Philadelphia's best hitters, with a .700 slugging percentage in his last seven games.
Even the effect of Jhoan Duran's oft-hyped entrance music and light show was suppressed by the fact that the Dodgers had just scored three runs off Chase Shugart, forcing the Phillies to haul out their star closer for three pitches that sealed their arduous victory. The game ended with a routine ground ball and throw to first, executed by none other than Trea Turner. He does it all, folks!
