The Los Angeles Dodgers’ season-opening undefeated run is over, courtesy of Jesús Luzardo.
The Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher dominated one of MLB’s most-feared lineups on Friday to end Los Angeles’ winning streak at eight games in a 3-2 Phillies victory. The Dodgers are now 8-1, with the Phillies also one of baseball’s top teams at 6-1.
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That eight-game streak had been the longest undefeated run by a defending champ in MLB history, breaking a record held by the 1933 New York Yankees.
The Phillies picked up Luzardo over the offseason in a trade with the Miami Marlins, adding a talented but often-injured southpaw to what was already one of the sport’s top rotations. Luzardo looked good in his Phillies debut, striking out 11 and allowing two earned runs in five innings against the Washington Nationals, then looked superb on Friday.
With a fastball topping out at 98.6 mph and four other offerings classified by Baseball Savant, Luzardo had the Dodgers on their back heels for most of the night. He went 18 straight batters without allowing a hit after the start of the second inning, and encountered his only real trouble in the seventh inning when the Dodgers put two baserunners on with two outs.
Facing Kiké Hernández, who has made a career of bothering lefties, with the lead run on base, Luzardo got his eighth strikeout to keep Los Angeles scoreless. He unleashed a scream as he walked off the mound, to the delight of his parents in attendance and the rest of Citizens Bank Park.
With Luzardo at 95 pitches, the Phillies pulled him after that inning and finished off the win with innings from Matt Strahm and Jordan Romano, though a two-run homer from Tommy Edman in the ninth inning made the win a little less comfortable.
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On the offensive side, Philadelphia got on the board early via a throwing error by Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto. That was about all they got off Yamamoto, who finished with five strikeouts, three hits allowed, three walks and one unearned run.
The Phillies had more luck against Dodgers reliever Kirby Yates.
That was how MLB’s new big bad took its first loss. You would have been forgiven for assuming they would do something in the later innings — six of those eight wins were of the comeback variety, easily the most in MLB — but the Phillies were well set up to stop them once it became clear Luzardo had his arsenal together.
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The loss came hours after the San Diego Padres — the other team that entered Friday undefeated — took their first loss against the Chicago Cubs.
No one expected the Dodgers, who are still missing World Series MVP Freddie Freeman, to go 162-0, or anywhere close to it. The real question is just how many teams will be able to match the Phillies’ form Friday. The Dodgers spent all offseason making sure they are stocked to the gills with talent to make sure that’s what it takes to beat them as long as they remain healthy (enough).
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