The long-awaited MLB debut of reliever Alex McFarlane came Wednesday night as the Phillies dropped their fourth home game in their last six since the All-Star Game. What was a 4-3 game got out of hand quickly when the Dodgers put up four runs in the top of the eighth. The Phillies came back with a single run in the eighth and two more in the ninth, but could get no closer and lost 9-5.

McFarlane pitched a scoreless top of the ninth giving up a single to Freddie Freeman with two outs. The first batter he faced was Shohei Ohtani, who flied out to deep center field for the first out of the inning. The right-hander then took a line drive off of his glove that was turned into a 1-4-3 ground out for Andy Pages. After Freeman’s single on a 2-0 pitch, McFarlane got Max Muncy to ground out to Bryce Harper on a 3-1 out to end the inning.

A painful ninth inning

McFarlane was fine after taking the line drive off of his glove, but catcher Rafael Marchan and umpire Brian O’Nora were both injured. Marchan had a pitch apparently glance off of his knee and he wound up in pain and limping before leaving the game for J.T. Realmuto, who took over behind the plate. O’Nora had a ball hit him squarely on his hand, which he had resting on his knee.

O’Nora did stay in the game, but was in obvious pain and was even having trouble pulling a new baseball out of the bag on his belt.

There was no immediate report on either Marchan or O’Nora. The Phillies placed catcher Garrett Stubbs on the IL on Tuesday with wrist inflammation, which cleared a roster spot for the addition of outfielder Bryan De La Cruz. If Marchan is unable to play, either Payton Henry or Paul McIntosh would be the likely additions from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

A return to the big leagues

De La Cruz played 16 games for the Braves last season, but had not been in the majors since then. After sitting out Tuesday night’s game, De La Cruz was in the lineup against left-hander Eric Lauer. After drawing a walk in his first at-bat, De La Cruz took Lauer deep with a solo shot in the fifth inning. De La Cruz struck out in his third at-bat and was pinch-hit for by Brandon Marsh in the ninth inning when the Dodgers went to right-hander Edgardo Henriquez. His last home run came on September 26, 2024 when he was a member of the Pirates and he homered in a game against Milwaukee. Wednesday night’s home run was the 59th of his career.