LOS ANGELES – The best way to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers is to get them early and that’s just what the Phillies did Monday night. Carlos Ruiz had a big game. He started it with a two-run double in the first inning and Cliff Lee pitched a gem to lead the Phillies to a 7-0 win at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers entered the game 11-2 when they scored first.
The Phillies have won two in a row and are now 9-10 on the season. The Dodgers are 12-8.
Four games into this 10-game road trip, the Phillies are 2-2.
Starting pitching report
Lee (3-2) was brilliant. He pitched eight shutout innings. He scattered four hits and did not walk a batter while striking out 10.
Lee has 31 strikeouts and just one walk in his last three starts.
MLB
Dodgers lefty Paul Maholm (0-2) allowed eight hits and five runs over five innings. One of the runs was unearned, a result of his own error. Maholm gave up a two-run double to Ruiz in the first inning and a two-run homer to Ryan Howard in the fifth.
Bullpen report
Jeff Manship pitched the ninth for the Phillies.
At the plate
Ruiz came into the game without a homer or an RBI in 49 at-bats. In an effort to get Ruiz some good pitches to hit, manager Ryne Sandberg batted him fourth in front of Howard. The move paid dividends as Ruiz had a two-run double in the first inning. He added a second double in the third and walked with two outs in the fifth to set the table for Howard’s two-run homer.
Ruiz capped his big night with a two-run homer in the ninth. His eight total bases tied a career-high.
Howard has homered in consecutive games. He has five in 19 games. That’s a 42-homer pace over 162 games.
In the field
Chase Utley saved a run with some heads-up defense in the first inning. The Phillies' second baseman halted Adrian Gonzalez's base hit in shallow center field, wheeled and threw to the plate to prevent Yasiel Puig from scoring. Puig was tagged by Ruiz in a rundown for the third out of the inning. Utley’s play was reminiscent of the dazzler he made to cut a run in Game 5 of the 2008 World Series against Tampa Bay.
Lineup stuff
Marlon Byrd, who had played every inning of all 18 games, got a night off. Sandberg said he wanted to get John Mayberry Jr. some at-bats so Mayberry started in right field.
Freddy Galvis started at third base in place of Cody Asche and Tony Gwynn Jr. started in center field ahead of Ben Revere, who was just 1 for 6 lifetime against Dodgers lefty starter Maholm.
Appeals court
The Phillies have petitioned MLB to change the single that Howard hit in the seventh inning Sunday to a double. Such scoring reviews usually take a few days. Howard had four hits in the game and was lacking just a double for the cycle.
Up next
A.J. Burnett (0-1, 2.74) opposes Dodgers lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-1, 1.93) on Tuesday night.