Franco’s slam lifts Phillies over Dodgers 6

Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Jimmy Rollins returned to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Tuesday night for the first time since the Phillies traded him to Los Angeles.

“From the parking lot all the way around, I thought, damn, this is a pretty long walk”, Rollins said.

Wood has had a down year, and I was going to go in depth about it before I saw that Daniel Brim of Dodgers Digest did it better than I could have.

Rollins was greeted with a standing ovation by the Philadelphia crowd for his first at-bat, which led off the game. The 2007 NL MVP finished 2 for 5.

“I was able to sneak in everywhere, even in the airport”, said a smiling Rollins.

He was the first domino to go down when the franchise finally began to rebuild, and the Phillies were always going to be near the floor of the National League East this season, if not lying facedown on it. But in light of their 16-17 record under interim manager Pete Mackanin, everyone can see that they didn’t have to be as bad as they were before Sandberg resigned on June 26.

Alex Wood made his first start in a Dodger uniform after being acquired by the Atlanta Braves just before the traded deadline. They had runners at second and third with the tying run at the plate, but Ken Giles struck out Jimmy Rollins to end the threat.

Phillies starter Jerome Williams went five innings. “The last pitch, he hit his spot”.

Mackanin said he knew the rule that if the ball doesn’t cross the base line, it’ll be a balk. Wood would then walk Herrera. Franco launched a 1-and-1 curveball into the left field seats.

“We know what he is”. “He did a good job”.

Shortstop plays first game at Citizens Bank Park as a visitor. He does not feel sorry for himself. “He doesn’t pout. He does damage”. Peralta served up a grand slam to Maikel Franco as the Philadelphia Phillies snapped the Dodgers’ four-game winning streak and handed them a 6-2 defeat Tuesday night.

Rollins received a warm welcome in pre-game introductions and a louder ovation when he led off the game. He tipped his helmet to the crowd twice and got a pat on the back from catcher Carlos Ruiz. Phillies players stood and clapped in the dugout.

Rollins, who was traded to Los Angeles last December, played his first 15 seasons for the Phillies.

The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the third on Herrera’s RBI double. Ruiz raced around from second base as the Dodgers fielders hesitated to react, beating the throw from Adrian Gonzalez after he eventually retrieved the ball. They had the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth and failed to score.

The Phillies rank tied for 26th in the Major League Baseball with 388 runs, but first baseman Ryan Howard has a team-best 18 homers and 60 RBI despite hitting.

The Dodgers rallied for a run in the eighth inning, though somehow Alberto Callaspo couldn’t score from first base on a two-out double into the left field corner by Carl Crawford. Domonic Brown hit an RBI single in the bottom half. Worth noting, Joc Pederson walked three times on Tuesday after not drawing a walk in his previous 11 games. With one out, Hernandez singled and Herrera doubled him home.

Dodgers’ first-round draft pick Walker Buehler (24th overall), underwent Tommy John surgery to fix a torn UCL in his right elbow. Brett Anderson gets the ball, and he’s 5-6 with a 3.14 ERA and 81 strikeouts this season.

Alex Wood (-180) will make his Los Angeles debut against the well-traveled Jerome Williams (+165). He hasn’t faced the Dodgers since 2012 and is 2-3 with a 4.97 ERA in five starts against them.