LDN - Sports

Gonzalez's two HRs, five RBIs power Dodgers

[August 18, 2016] PHILADELPHIA -- Adrian Gonzalez homered twice and drove in five runs as the Los Angeles Dodgers clubbed the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 on Wednesday night.

Gonzalez hit a three-run homer off Phillies starter Jake Thompson in the fourth inning and a two-run shot off reliever Edubray Ramos in the seventh. It was the 20th career multi-homer game for the Los Angeles first baseman, who has 12 home runs this season, and his first since July 17, 2015, at Washington.

Justin Turner added a two-run homer for the Dodgers, who pounded Philadelphia for the second straight day to increase their lead over San Francisco to 1 1/2 games in the National League West. The Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 earlier in the day.

Los Angeles won the first game of a three-game series 15-5 on Tuesday night.

Tommy Joseph homered for the Phillies and Cesar Hernandez went 2-for-4 with a walk, extending his on-base streak to a career-high 23 games.

Dodgers starter Scott Kazmir (10-6) scuffled through five-plus innings to pick up the victory, snapping his three-game losing streak. Kazmir allowed eight hits and two runs while striking out one and walking three.

Thompson, making his third major league start, allowed five runs and five hits in five innings, including the homers by Gonzalez and Turner. He struck out four and walked four in falling to 1-2.

It was the eighth straight game in which a Phillies starter lasted fewer than six innings, matching a franchise record set several times, most recently in 1999.

The Phillies struck first on Freddy Galvis' RBI double off Kazmir in the second. But Turner led off the top of the fourth with a single, and Josh Reddick walked ahead of Gonzalez's three-run bomb, on a 3-1 fastball from Thompson.

It was Gonzalez's 11th homer of the season and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Turner added his two-run shot in the fifth, after a single by Corey Seager, to increase the Los Angeles lead to 5-1. As has often been the case with the Phillies' young pitchers this season, Thompson was way ahead in the count -- in this case at 1-2 -- only to see an opponent take an aggressive swing.

Turner managed to loft a changeup just over the left-field fence.

Joseph hit a leadoff homer in the sixth against Kazmir, his 16th home run of the season. Maikel Franco and Carlos Ruiz followed with singles, and another single, by Galvis off reliever Grant Dayton, loaded the bases with none out.

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Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez (23) celebrates his three run home run with third baseman Justin Turner (10) and right fielder Josh Reddick (11) during the fourth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Dayton retired the next three hitters, however, to extinguish the threat. All three outs came on short fly balls to the outfield, though the first of them, to right off the bat of Peter Bourjos, appeared deep enough to score Franco.

As it was, Reddick, the Dodgers' right fielder, threw to second base as Franco bluffed toward the plate, then retreated to third.

Gonzalez made it 7-2 with his two-run shot off Ramos in the seventh.

NOTES: Phillies RHP Aaron Nola was moved from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL before the game, effectively ending his season. General manager Matt Klentak said an examination by Dr. James Andrews on Monday revealed that Nola, out since July 29, had a low-grade sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament and a low-grade strain of the flexor tendon in his pitching elbow. No surgery is required, but Nola was given a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection, and will not throw for another month. He will then ramp up his throwing, and if there are no ill effects he is expected to be ready for spring training. "I kind of expected not to really throw over here for the rest of the year, but I'm glad it's not surgical," Nola said. "Just a couple weeks off and let it heal. ... I'm pretty confident that it's going to heal correctly and by spring training I should be good to go." ... Philadelphia also optioned LHP Elvis Araujo to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and purchased the contract of RHP Frank Herrmann from the same club.

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