NEW YORK -- A little more than 13 hours had passed from the time most of the Dodgers had arrived at Yankee Stadium on Sunday morning to when Tommy Edman popped out to shallow left field, putting an end to a 2-1 loss -- and a marathon of a day -- for his team.
After Saturday's game was postponed due to inclement weather, the Dodgers played two to close out their weekend series in the Bronx. Los Angeles took two out of three from New York, but it had to settle for a split in the doubleheader, falling short of a sweep.
"It’s a long day. But it’s the life we chose," manager Dave Roberts said. "It’s one of those things -- there’s no other alternative, right? We’ve just got to post."
Said Edman: "Watched a whole World Cup game. Yeah, it was a long day at the field."
Sunday's twin bill in the Bronx began with a highly anticipated showdown between a pair of frontline starters, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking center stage by going the distance for his first regular-season complete game in the Majors. The nightcap, a battle of the bullpens, went to a Yankees 'pen that was just a little bit better.
Though the Dodgers trailed for most of the series finale, they made it a game in the eighth inning when Edman tied it up with a pinch-hit home run -- the third of his career, and his first since July 10, 2021. The solo shot off Fernando Cruz erased the one-run lead that New York had held since the bottom of the first, when old friend Cody Bellinger knocked an RBI single off opener Will Klein.
The Dodgers kept the rally going after Edman's blast when Max Muncy and pinch-hitter Dalton Rushing drew back-to-back one-out walks. But Shohei Ohtani struck out and Andy Pages popped out against righty David Bednar to end the threat.
The tie did not hold for long. Evan Phillips entered for the bottom of the eighth and surrendered a go-ahead solo home run to Jazz Chisholm Jr. with one out, swinging the momentum back in favor of the Yankees. After falling behind 1-0, Phillips had tried to get back into the count but left a fastball middle-down, where Chisholm was able to get a good swing off.
Phillips, who was pitching in only his fourth game since completing his 13-month rehab from Tommy John surgery, partially attributed the mistake pitch to his reacclimation to big league competition.
"I think I'm still just getting used to pitching in games again," Phillips said. "But spotlight that, understanding there's other other things I can do, other ways I can get him out instead of just having the passive mindset of just trying to get back into the count."
After the Yankees reclaimed their narrow lead, Bednar finished the job with a scoreless ninth inning, handing the Dodgers their first loss of the second half.
On another day, Roberts might have taken solace that his team forced its opponent to turn to its closer for a five-out save. But the Dodgers won't reap the direct benefit of wearing out the Yankees' bullpen, and the teams won't see each other again this year -- unless they find their way back to one another in the World Series.
The Dodgers came away feeling good about having won a series, and they feel that they're set up decently for their next one despite needing to run a bullpen game the day before their three-game set in Philadelphia begins. L.A. used seven relievers -- including 27th man Kyle Hurt, who will be returned to Triple-A Oklahoma City -- but it was able to stay away from Tanner Scott and length option Landon Knack.
There may be only one game on the schedule for Monday, but the Dodgers know that taking on the Phillies -- and their ace, Cristopher Sánchez -- won't be any less of a challenge than their long day in the Bronx.
"At the end of the day, it’s baseball," Roberts said. "We’ve got a bus ride tonight, and we’ve got to be ready for Sánchez tomorrow. It doesn’t get much easier."