Franco Homer Lifts Phillies Over Dodgers

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Maikel Franco hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 on Thursday night.

Ryan Howard also homered for Philadelphia, which avoided a three-game series sweep.

Justin Turner and Yasmani Grandal went deep for the Dodgers, who began play 1 1/2 games in front of the San Francisco Giants in the NL West.

Michael Mariot (1-0) pitched a scoreless seventh inning in relief of Jerad Eickhoff to earn the victory.

Freddy Galvis led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and Franco followed with his 22nd homer, to deep center off Grant Dayton (0-1) to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead.

Jeanmar Gomez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 32nd save in 35 opportunities.

Eickhoff gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings with eight strikeouts and two walks. The right-hander snapped an eight-game streak in which Philadelphia starters pitched fewer than six innings — one game short of matching the club record.

The Dodgers jumped on Eickhoff quickly as the first three batters of the game scored to put Los Angeles ahead. Chase Utley and Corey Seager singled and Turner connected on his 23rd homer.

Utley's throwing error in the second led to an unearned run as Aaron Altherr's RBI single brought Philadelphia to 3-1.

Grandal's one-out solo homer off the scoreboard in right in the fourth inning made it 4-1.

Howard led off the bottom of the inning with his 19th homer of the season, a booming shot to center. And Philadelphia closed to 4-3 on Taylor Featherston's double to left-center.

Featherston started at second base in place of Cesar Hernandez, who was a late scratch for undisclosed reasons.

Dodgers starter Ross Stripling gave up three runs — two earned — and six hits in five innings. Stripling, making his 11th start, struck out five and walked two.

Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a sixth-inning double.

The Dodgers finished with 16 homers in their six games against Philadelphia this season.

The Philies moved all fans with tickets in sections 104 and 105 in right field because of an issue with the scoreboard that overhangs those sections. There also were no fans in the first three rows in the sections directly above the scoreboard. In a statement, the Phillies said the scoreboard wasn't a threat to fall but fans were moved for precautionary measures. The problem with a bracket supporting protective netting in front of the scoreboard was to be corrected after the game, the team said.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers: RHP Bud Norris, sidelined since Aug. 1 due to a back strain, will be activated from the DL and start the weekend series opener at Cincinnati.

UP NEXT

Dodgers: Norris (6-9, 4.26) will make his first start since July 31 in the opener of the four-game series, facing Reds RHP Tim Adleman (1-1, 3.73).

Phillies: LHP Adam Morgan (1-7, 6.62) starts on Friday night when the Phillies host the Cardinals for the first of three games. RHP Adam Wainwright (9-7, 4.72) starts for St. Louis.