Phillies and Dodgers will renew an underrated rivalry this weekend | Extra Innings

The Phillies could not complete the three-game sweep of St. Louis during their brief homestand at Citizens Bank Park, and the sentiment that they are going to need help in the starting rotation before the July 31 trade deadline was not allayed by Jerad Eickhoff’s latest performance.

Eickhoff did give the Phillies some length, covering 6 1/3 innings before departing, but he also surrendered eight hits, including three home runs, in a 5-3 defeat. Over his last four starts, he has allowed 10 home runs and 17 runs in 18 1/3 innings. Those are the kind of numbers that can get you replaced, but Eickhoff received a vote of confidence from manager Gabe Kapler after the game.

On the bright side, Bryce Harper remained hot with three hits, including a couple of doubles, and rookie J.D. Hammer had another impressive outing with a perfect eighth inning that included a couple of strikeouts.

After the game, it was off to L.A. for a weekend showdown with the first-place Dodgers.

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— Bob Brookover (extrainnings@philly.com)

Ask the casual baseball fan — or even the avid ones — to name the best rivalries in baseball history, and Phillies-Dodgers is unlikely to make the list. It probably should. It’s not the Yankees-Red Sox, Yankees-Dodgers, Giants-Dodgers or Cubs-Cardinals, but there’s some pretty good history between the Phillies and Dodgers.

Start with this: There have been 49 championship series in each league since the National League and American League were split into divisions at the start of the 1969 season, and the Phillies and Dodgers have played each other in the NLCS five times. Only the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates, who were paired in four of the first 11 NL championship series, have played in as many.

The Dodgers won the first two NLCS meetings between the teams in 1977 and 1978, inflicting massive pain on the Phillies’ fan base. Remember Black Friday? Larry Bowa revealed in this 2014 story by Paul Hagen that he has never forgotten it and still occasionally watches the replay of Davey Lopes’ ninth-inning infield single that tied the pivotal third game of the 1977 series at Veterans Stadium.

In today’s replay world, it would have been the final out of the game and the Phillies would have been a victory away from reaching the World Series. Instead, the Phillies lost Game 3 and again the next night in a downpour with ace Steve Carlton on the mound. At the time, the Phillies still had not won a World Series, and for some reason, their drought never seemed as charming as Boston’s or the Cubs'.

The Phillies have won the last three NLCS meetings between the teams, including a four-game victory in 1983 after the Dodgers had won 11 of 12 regular-season games between the teams. And, of course, the Phils’ 2008 and 2009 trips to the World Series came after five-game series victories over the Dodgers in the NLCS.

Bowa worked as a coach for Los Angeles and Lopes was in the first-base coaching box for the Phillies during those final two series, and there is some fascinating player history between the cities. Chase Utley, a UCLA product, was a cornerstone for the Phillies’ 2008 title team, and an all-time list of great Dodgers grew up in the Philadelphia area, including manager Tommy Lasorda, pitcher Orel Hershiser, and catchers Roy Campanella, Mike Scioscia and Mike Piazza.

The Phillies also won their second pennant in 1950 at the expense of the Brooklyn Dodgers, winning on the final day of the season at Ebbets Field, thanks in large part to Richie Ashburn’s throw that nailed Cal Abrams at home plate in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Anyway, the rivalry will be renewed this weekend at Dodger Stadium with a showdown of first-place teams.

The Dodgers, winners of the last two National League pennants and current owner of the best record in the league, present a measuring stick of sorts for the Phillies this weekend. Bryce Harper, however, sees the series in a different way, Scott Lauber writes.

A heart-wrenching scene unfolded Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park in Houston when the Cubs’ Albert Almora hit a line drive foul that struck a 4-year-old girl. Almora was in excruciating mental pain afterward as the unidentified girl was removed from the ballpark. David Murphy writes that this is the incident that should force all 30 major-league teams to extend protective netting from foul pole to foul pole.

The draft is set for Monday, and Johnny Almaraz, the Phillies’ amateur scouting director, talked about how the team is using analytics more than ever to decide on a selection. The enhanced analytics on college position players helped the Phillies in their first-round selections of college stars Adam Haseley and Alec Bohm the last two years. Our Matt Breen believes the Phillies might take another college position player in the first round.

The Phillies have a fair share of big-league pitchers on the injured list, and Marc Narducci reports that a couple of pitching prospects in the minors are also dealing with injuries. Righthander Spencer Howard, arguably the best pitching prospect in the system, has been sidelined by shoulder fatigue since April 23, and 6-foot-10 lefty Kyle Young is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The Phillies could not complete the three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, but our Katie McInerney did put together an entire look at their 5-3 loss from a social-media point of view.

Tonight: Jake Arrieta faces Kenta Maeda in series opener at Dodger Stadium, 10:10 p.m.

Tomorrow: Zach Eflin goes against Clayton Kershaw, 10:10 p.m.

Sunday: Nick Pivetta pitches against Rich Hill in series finale vs. Los Angeles, 4:10 p.m.

Monday: Aaron Nola opens series against Manny Machado’s Padres at Petco Park, 10:10 p.m.

Thursday: David Montgomery memorial service at Citizens Bank Park, 3:05 p.m.

As Lauber points out in this preview of the Phillies’ weekend series vs. the Dodgers, Los Angeles has a lineup loaded with power-hitting lefties, including Cody Bellinger, who would probably win the league MVP if the season ended today. Jake Arrieta will be the first of three Phillies pitchers to face the Dodgers, and his splits against left-handed hitters are not great.

Right-handed hitters are batting just .230 with a .289 on-base percentage and .598 OPS against Arrieta. Lefties, on the other hand, are hitting .283 with a .374 on-base percentage and an .865 OPS. Six of the nine home runs Arrieta has allowed and 15 of his 26 walks have been against left-handed batters.

Aaron Nola, who will pitch Saturday night, also has struggled against lefties. Right-handed hitters are batting .245 with a .306 on-base percentage and .669 OPS against Nola. Lefties are .308 with a .408 on-base percentage and a .978 OPS.

The Phillies are probably going to have to score some runs this weekend.

Send questions by email or on Twitter @brookob.

Question: If Odubel is convicted of assault, is there any type of conduct clause in MLB contracts that would allow the Phillies to get out of having to pay the rest of the contract?

— Sam M., via email

Answer: Thanks for the question, Sam. The answer is no, there is not.

The situation was covered very well in Marcus Hayes’ most recent column. It is up to Major League Baseball to decide what Herrera’s punishment should be. If he is suspended, he will not be paid for the games he misses, but the Phillies will still be on the hook for the entire remaining amount he is owed from the five-year, $30.5 million deal he signed before the 2017 season.