The Phils come back from a 6-0 deficit before hanging on to defeat the Dodgers, 9-8, to end the team’s best road trip on a high note.

The Phils come back from falling behind 6-0 before holding on to sweep the Dodgers, 9-8, ending their 9-1 road trip, the best in the team’s history, on a high note.

The Dodgers jump into the lead in the first as, with two men on, and with one man out, Matt Kemp hits an RBI single, knocking in Casey Blake, who had earlier walked, then went up to second base on Andre Ethier’s walk, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, while sending Ethier, who had just walked, up to second base. The Dodgers then made it a 4-0 lead as Juan Rivera hits a three-run home run, his eighth home run of the year, knocking in both Ethier and Kemp. Two batters later, after James Loney had walked, the Dodgers took a 5-0 lead as Dioner Navarro hits an RBI double, scoring Loney, before he is thrown out trying to stretch his double into a triple, 9-4-3-5, for the inning’s second out. The Phils tried to score in the third as, with two men on, and with one man out, Chase Utley hits a fly ball to center that was caught by center fielder Kemp, for the inning’s second out, who then threw home to try and cut down Jimmy Rollins, who had earlier singled, then stopped at third base on Shane Victorino’s ground-rule double. Kemp’s throw, after being grabbed by first baseman Loney, beats Rollins to the plate, who is then tagged out by the catcher Navarro, for the inning’s final out, 8-3-2, thus ending the Phils’ threat. The Dodgers then added to their lead in their half of the third as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Navarro hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Kemp, who had earlier doubled, then stopped at third on Rivera’s single, giving the Dodgers a 6-0 lead. The Phils then started their comeback. The Phils got onto the scoreboard in the fourth as, with one man on, and with nobody out, Hunter Pence hits a two-run home run, his fourteenth home run of the season, and his third as a Phil, knocking in Ryan Howard, who had lead-off the inning with a walk, making it a 6-2 Dodgers’ lead. Four batters later, with a man on second, and with two men out, Vance Worley helped himself with an RBI single, knocking in Michael Martinez, who had earlier reached base on a Loney fielding error, cutting the Dodgers’ lead down to 6-3. The Phils then cut the Dodgers’ lead down to 6-4 as, with two men on, and with one man out, Pence reaches first base on third baseman Blake’s fielding error, as Victorino, who had earlier walked, then stopped at second base on Howard’s single, scores, while Howard, who had just singled, would stop at third base, while Pence would go on to second base. A batter later, the Phils made it a 6-5 Dodgers’ lead as Raul Ibanez hits an RBI ground out, 3-unassisted, knocking in Howard, while sending Pence on to third. The Dodgers added to their lead in their half of the fifth as, with one man on, and with one man out, Loney hits an RBI double, scoring Rivera, who had just singled, making it a 7-5 Dodgers’ lead. The Phils tied the game up at seven-all in the sixth as, with two men on, and with two men out, Utley hits a two-run single, scoring pinch hitter Ben Francisco, who had earlier walked, then stopped at third on Rollins’ single, and Rollins, who had earlier singled, then stole second base. The Phils then took the lead as Howard hits a two-run home run, his twenty-fifth home run of the season, scoring Utley, giving the Phils a 9-7 lead. The Dodgers made it a 9-8 Phils’ lead in the ninth as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Rivera hits into an RBI force out, 4-6, wiping out Kemp, who had just singled, at second base, for the inning’s second out, while scoring Blake, who had earlier singled, then had stopped at third on Kemp’s single. That would be the final score as Ryan Madson then recorded his twenty-second save of the season by getting pinch hitter Rod Barajas to fly out to center for the final out.

Vance Worley received a no-decision as he went four innings, giving up six runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out six. Kyle Kendrick (7-5, 3.26) gets the win as he pitches an inning, giving up a run on two hits, as he struck out two. David Herndon received his fourth hold of the year as he pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Brad Lidge recorded his second hold of the season as he pitched a third of an inning, giving up a hit and a walk, while striking out a batter. Antonio Bastardo received his eleventh hold of the year as he pitched an inning and two-thirds, striking out a batter. Ryan Madson recorded his twenty-second save of the season as he went an inning, giving up a run on two hits. Chad Billingsley also received a no-decision as he pitched four and a third innings, giving up five runs, only three of which were earned, on seven hits and three walks. Hong-Chih Kuo pitched an inning, giving up a run on a hit and a walk, while striking out a batter. Blake Hawsworth blew his first save attempt of the year before taking the lost (2-3, 3.57), as he pitched a third of an inning, giving up a run on three hits, while striking out one. Matt Guerrier, Mike MacDougal and Javy Guerra combined for three and one-thirds scoreless innings, giving up a hit (Guerrier) and a walk (Guerra), while striking out three (Guerrier (2), Guerra (1)), between them.

The Phils had eleven hits in the ballgame, with Jimmy Rollins (Singles), Shane Victorino (Single, Double), and Ryan Howard (Single, Home Run, 2 RBIs), all leading the team with two hits each. Chase Utley (Single, 2 RBIs), Hunter Pence (Home Run, 2 RBIs), Raul Ibanez (Single, RBI), Brian Schneider (Single) and Vance Worley (Single, RBI), had the other five Phils’ hits, as the offense bailed out Worley on their way to defeating the Dodgers. The other Phil run came in on Blake’s error.

The Phils (77-40, 1st East) have the day off as they come home from LA, as they end a 9-1 road trip, one of their most successful road trip in the club’s history.