Smith, Taylor homer in Dodgers' 3-1 win over Phillies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will Smith hit a two-run homer, Chris Taylor added a solo shot and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 on Monday night despite getting just three hits and four baserunners.

Pinch-hitter Albert Pujols' single in the seventh was the only other hit for the defending World Series champions, but they hung on for their sixth victory in seven games with eight consecutive scoreless innings from seven pitchers.

Bryce Harper drove in a run in the first inning for the Phillies, whose four-game winning streak ended in the opener of a six-game California road trip.

Tony Gonsolin yielded four hits and lasted just 3 2/3 rocky innings in his second start of the season for the Dodgers, but the bullpen allowed only four singles and didn't walk a batter.

David Price (2-0) got the win after stranding two runners to end the fourth. Kenley Jansen threw a perfect nine-pitch ninth inning for his 16th save.

Spencer Howard (0-2) tossed two-hit ball into the fifth for Philadelphia, but both those hits were homers. Howard, a native of central California, was otherwise sharp in his first career start in the stadium where he watched Éric Gagné and Clayton Kershaw as a kid with his father, a Los Angeles-area native.

Howard retired the Dodgers' first nine batters, and even got his first major league hit in the second inning on a double when right fielder Zach McKinstry misread his line drive, which looked catchable.

But Mookie Betts drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, and Smith connected three batters later for his seventh homer, a 411-foot shot.

Taylor chased Howard with his ninth homer leading off the fifth.

GONSOLIN'S PROGRESS

Gonsolin missed the first two months of the season with right shoulder inflammation before returning to the Dodgers' rotation last...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Smith-Taylor-homer-in-Dodgers-3-1-win-over-16248130.php