Phillies ‘don’t care who we’re playing, we’re just going to beat them’ as they sweep Dodgers

There was a brief delay on Thursday night before the crowd cheered, seeming to be in disbelief that Johan Rojas somehow caught the ball. He chased down a fly ball in the seventh inning of the Phillies’ 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, bounced off the outfield wall, and took the ball out of his glove. Matt Strahm doffed his cap and raised it toward Rojas, providing a cue for the crowd to applause. The ballpark came alive. Rojas really did catch it.

It was a crucial out — perhaps the Phillies don’t sweep the Dodgers if Rojas lets that ball drop — in a July series between two teams that could meet in October with a pennant at stake. In October, plays like that can be enough to sway a series. In July, it was enough to make the Phils’ 61st win feel a bit secure.

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“I think I had the best seat in the house,” said left fielder Brandon Marsh. “I knew I wasn’t getting there so I just looked straight at him and started screaming ‘Go, go, go.’ That’s just Ro being Ro. He goes and gets them with the best of them out there. I feel like we expect him to make those plays now because he keeps doing it.”

The Phillies have spent the first month of summer with a commanding division lead and remain on pace for more than 100 wins. They have the best record in baseball and looked the part for three days against the mighty Dodgers. Three games in July do not dictate what happens in October and the Dodgers are playing without some key pieces. But it’s easy to feel strong about the Phils’ chances if these two teams meet in the fall.

“We don’t care who’s coming. We don’t care who we’re playing. We’re just going to beat them,” Rojas said through an interpreter. “Anyone can come here and they’re going to end up losing the game or the series. The same goal with the World Series. We’re hungry to win.”

Aaron Nola allowed one run in six innings as the Phillies’ starters allowed just four runs in 17 innings over these three games. Nola twice struck out Shohei Ohtani, who went 0-for-4 at the plate and finished the series 3-for-10. Nola quelled a second-inning rally by fooling Ohtani with a bases-loaded curveball.

All three of his hits this week were singles. For three days, the Phillies found a way to contain baseball’s best hitter.

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“That was the first time I’ve faced him,” Nola said. “He’s a big man. A big guy in the box. Facing him with the bases loaded and one out. Honestly, that’s not a situation you want as a pitcher.”

The Phillies sent Rojas to triple A last month after he struggled to produce offensively. They knew his defense was strong — Rojas made a similar catch last October in the postseason — but they needed more at the plate. He was rushed back to the majors less than two weeks later because of injuries. So the Phillies are learning to live again with his glove-first game. Nights like Thursday — especially when Rojas slapped an RBI single — made that easier.

“I don’t know what the computer said but that looked like a great catch to me,” manager Rob Thomson said. “ … He’s electric. He got a big base hit with the infield in. He makes that play. He can steal a base. He puts pressure on the other team.”

Trea Turner homered in the first inning off a left-handed “opener” Anthony Banda, who was intended to neutralize Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Schwarber added an exclamation point in the eighth inning with a homer that left so fast Dodgers rightfielder Teoscar Hernandez didn’t even flinch. Marsh homered in the second and tripled in a run in the sixth as the Phillies seemed to received contributions from throughout the lineup.

The Phillies will have to wait 12 days before they play another team with a winning record as next week’s all-star break is bookend by three games against each the Oakland A’s and Pittsburgh Pirates. It will be a nice respite before a stretch where the Phillies play the Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Guardians, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, the Dodgers again, and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Phillies played this week like a team ready for the challenge.

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“I think we held our own,” Marsh said. “I’d be lying if I said we didn’t wake up a little different for games like this. This is why we play the game. It’s Dodgers-Phillies. It’s a huge series. It’s what it’s all about.”

The Dodgers loaded the bases in the eighth inning with just one out against Jeff Hoffman. Rojas’ catch an inning earlier — and his run scoring single in the sixth through a brought-in infield — seemed to be for naught. But then Miguel Rojas slapped a line drive right where Bryson Stott was positioned. He tossed it to Turner, who stepped on second base and completed the inning-ending double play. Hoffman clapped his hands and pointed towards his infielders. It was another crucial late-inning play that becomes even more significant when the games matter that much more. This time, the crowd didn’t need to wait. They were already roaring.

“Like I’ve always said, every hitter that hits a ball toward me, if he’s going to want it to be a hit, he’s going to have to hit it out,” Rojas said. “The ball they hit, the ball I catch. If it’s not out, it’s in my glove.”