Castellanos' grand slam helps Phillies take 2 of 3 from Dodgers

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Castellanos hit a grand slam, and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied with two runs in the seventh inning to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-7 on Sunday.

The Phillies took two of three from the World Series champion Dodgers, a series that might not mean much by October but put a little juice into an early April weekend.

Teoscar Hernández homered twice and had five RBIs for the Dodgers, whose only two losses this season came in this three-game series.

Castellanos hit his eighth career grand slam on reliever Alex Vesia’s first pitch in the third inning. The Phillies scored six times in the third and led 6-4 entering the seventh.

The Dodgers went ahead in a three-run seventh against Philadelphia’s bullpen. Mookie Betts hit an RBI double, Hernández’s fifth RBI came on a tying sacrifice fly and Will Smith knocked a run-scoring double off the right-field wall for 7-6 lead.

Bryson Stott tied the game 7-all in the seventh with an RBI single off Blake Treinen (0-1) and Edmundo Sosa beat out at first base a potential double-play ball to shortstop that brought home the go-ahead run.

Hernández hit a two-run homer in the first inning and knocked his second shot off the right field foul pole in the fourth for his 19th career multihomer game.

Orion Kerkering (1-0) got the win. José Alvarado worked the ninth for his second save.

Key stat

Shohei Ohtani struck out three times against Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez.

Key moment

Bryce Harper led off the seventh with a line drive shot to center that was misplayed by Andy Pages and turned into a leadoff double. Harper scored the tying run when Stott singled to right.

Up next

The Dodgers send RHP Dustin May (0-0. 0.00 ERA) to the mound against Nationals LHP MacKenzie Gore (0-1, 2.64) on Monday for the start of a three-game series in Washington.

It's a matchup between last year's 1-2 finishers in 2024 Cy Young Award voting when winner Chris Sale (0-1, 5.40 ERA) takes the mound for the Braves against runner-up Zack Wheeler (1-0, 1.38) when the Phillies open a three-game set Tuesday in Atlanta.

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