Collapses again in ninth inning Phillips' hold on the closer role is in jeopardy after Sunday's latest blunder against the Red Sox, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports. He allowed three runs on three... Impact Phillips was brought in to begin the ninth with the Dodgers leading 9-3 and quickly saw that lead shrink to 9-5 after allowing a single and two doubles to the first three hitters he faced. He was able to get Tyler O'Neill out on strikes before issuing back-to-back walks, which abruptly ended his night after manager Dave Roberts called in Daniel Hudson to try and finish the game with bases loaded. Phillips has been on a very rough stretch since the end of June, allowing nine runs on 12 hits and three walks while recording eight strikeouts over his last 7.1 innings. Prior to that, the right-hander had a 1.52 ERA, 0.97 WHIP in 23.2 innings through June 29. Roberts had commented after Saturday's win that he was still a "long ways" from removing Phillips from the closing role and that he would give Phillips "as much runway as he wants" to regain his previous form. It's very likely his view on Phillips has changed after Sunday's outing, especially with Hudson executing two saves over the weekend. Nothing official has been said, but it's also entirely possible the Dodgers are in the market for another high-leverage bullpen arm at the trade deadline to address their closer situation.
2 DAYS AGO • ROTOWIRE