Justin Wrobleski carries no-hit bid into the sixth in Dodgers' win over Phillies
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Justin Wrobleski shouted two words - the first of which didn't appear to be fit for print - and strode off the mound, the icy expression on his face frozen in place all the way to the dugout.
He had just struck out the side in the fifth inning of the Dodgers' 4-2 win Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies, finishing the job by getting Brandon Marsh to whiff on a fastball low and in - the same spot Wrobleski had hit with his slider for a called strike earlier in the at-bat.
Wrobleski's performance - seven innings of one-hit, one-run ball - was a masterful bounce-back. After allowing just two runs in his first five combined starts, Wrobleski hit a rough patch, recording a 6.41 ERA over his last three appearances.
On Friday, Wrobleski didn't just rediscover his former dominance. In many ways, he was even better.
His four-seam fastball velocity, sitting at 94.5 mph, was up 1.2 mph over his season average. And Wrobleski, who typically relies on pitching to contact, recorded an impressive 54% whiff rate on that pitch.
He was unhittable for most of the game. Right fielder Kyle Tucker's fielding error gave the Phillies their first base runner.
With one out in the fourth inning, the Trea Turner lifted a fly ball into the gap between Tucker and center fielder Andy Pages. Both tracked it down, and either could have caught it. But at the last second, Pages pulled up to let Tucker make the catch, and Tucker hesitated before flailing after it.
The ball dropped in, and Turner jogged into second base. Although Wrobleski no longer had a chance at a perfect game, his no-hit bid was still intact.
The next inning, Wrobleski struck out the side. His eighth strikeout, against Brandon Marsh, was a new career high.
But he wasn't done.
Wrobleski recorded a ninth strikeout, for the second out of the sixth, before surrendering a hit.
It was the second time in as many games that the Dodgers had a no-hitter into the sixth inning - Shohei Ohtani did the same against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.
The low fastball Wrobleski threw to Kyle Schwarber in a 1-1 count caught too much of the plate. And Wrobleski nodded, as if in acceptance, before turning to watch the ball fly over the wall in center field for a solo homer.
That was the fifth home run of the game. All the others belonged to the Dodgers.
The Dodgers had Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler's number.
Wheeler, a three-time All-Star, had only given up one home run in his six other starts this season combined. But just seven pitches into his start, Freddie Freeman sliced an opposite-field shot down the left-field line.
The next inning, Max Muncy skied his own solo homer to right. Ohtani took his turn in the third, sending a laser into the visitor's bullpen. Then Will Smith, the first right-handed hitter to homer Friday, added a solo shot in the fifth.
-Dodgers bring back Santiago Espinal
The Dodgers made a series of roster moves Friday, reconfiguring their bench after a wave of injuries.
They re-signed utility player Santiago Espinal, whose skill set was no longer redundant when Kiké Hernández returned to the injured list, this time with a strained left oblique.
"Obviously you don't ever know how those things are going to play out," Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said Friday. "So when he cleared (waivers) and then became a free agent, we had a couple guys go down right away. We reached back out to see if he would be interested in rejoining us. So luckily he was still in L.A. and that happened."
In a corresponding move, the Dodgers optioned utility player Hyeseong Kim to triple-A Oklahoma City, giving him regular at-bats in a low-pressure environment to work on his swing. And they transferred left-hander Blake Snell (left elbow) to the 60-day injured list to clear room on the 40-man roster.
"I think (Kim's) swing has changed," manager Dave Roberts said. "I think he's losing his legs a little bit, he's coming around the ball a little bit, there's a lot more swing-and-miss than there was early. He is just playing, with my eyes, a little bit more tentative, and not as free and easy as he was in some parts of last year and early on."
The Dodgers also put Teoscar Hernández (strained left hamstring) on the 10-day IL and recalled outfielder/first baseman Ryan Ward.
Hernández was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain, Roberts said, a less severe injury than expected. But the team does not have a timeline for his return.
Said Gomes: "Once he gets going, we're hoping it'll be a quick return, and we'll try to get him some rehab at-bats. When that happened last year, we probably rushed it a bit on that front."
Last year, Hernández played in just one rehab game returning from a strained groin.
In Hernández's absence, Alex Call and Ward are expected to share time in left field in what Roberts said won't be a "complete platoon." The right-handed hitting Call started Friday, even though the Dodgers faced Phillies right-handed starter Zack Wheeler.
"Wheeler is just a really good pitcher," said Roberts about the three-time All-Star. "I want Alex to be in there and just feel that Alex can kind of manage him and take some good at-bats."
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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 9:44 PM.