Kyle Schwarber hits 3 homers, drives in 7 runs as Phillies rally past Dodgers, 9-4

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kyle Schwarber hit three homers and tied his career high with seven RBIs, helping the Philadelphia Phillies rally to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-4 on Wednesday night.

The Dodgers lost two of three in the matchup between the National League’s top two teams, cutting their NL West lead to three games over surging Arizona — their smallest margin since late April.

“It's good to finally win a series,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “As of late we've been playing really good baseball and played a really good club over there.”

Schwarber's three-run homer capped a five-run sixth during which the NL East-leading Phillies tied and then took the lead. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was ejected by third base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt after an interference call on Miguel Rojas during the Phillies' outburst.

With Philadelphia down 4-3, Alec Bohm doubled to left and Brandon Marsh grounded into a fielder’s choice to third. Third baseman Kiké Hernández handled the bunt to his left side and threw to Miguel Rojas. Bohm slid and was called safe by Wendelstedt, who ruled interference by Rojas.

“He was in front of the bag without the ball, and that’s the new obstruction rule,” crew chief Marvin Hudson told a pool reporter. “Plus he was running in front of him to third. He was in front of third without the ball, so he obstructed the runner. The runner didn’t have a lane to get to the bag.”

Rojas was charged with an error. He became incensed and jawed with Wendelstedt as Roberts came out of the dugout.

Wendelstedt put up his hands indicating that Roberts should stop. He didn’t and Wendelstedt turned his back on Roberts before tossing him. It was Roberts’ 12th career ejection and first this season.

“He went out there to argue the play,” Hudson said. “And once you go down that road to argue the play, then you’re ejected because you can’t argue that play.”

Bohm scored on J.T. Realmuto's RBI groundout to third against Joe Kelly, tying it at 4.

Kelly walked Nick Castellanos and Johan Rojas to load the bases. Marsh scored on Kelly's wild pitch to make it 5-4. Schwarber's 426-foot blast to right-center extended the lead to 8-4.

Schwarber hit his 27th homer leading off the ninth against Michael Grove.

“The biggest thing is just being able to come through for the team,” Schwarber said. “There were a lot of other cool things that were done by guys today.”

The Phillies closed to 4-3 in the fifth on Schwarber’s two-run double into the right field corner that chased Gavin Stone.

Stone gave up a two-strike homer to Schwarber leading off the game.

Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia (2-4) took the loss.

After Gavin Lux's single in the third, the Phillies' staff retired 12 in a row.

Grove hit Nick Castellanos in the eighth and Matt Strahm drilled Lux in the bottom of the inning.

Freddie Freeman drove in three of the Dodgers' four runs, staking them to a 4-1 lead.

Both of Freeman's RBI singles came on first pitches from Phillies starter Tyler Phillips (4-1). Teoscar Hernández doubled, Phillips hit Kevin Kiermaier and Freeman singled up the middle, scoring Hernández to tie the game 1-1. Freeman scored on a single by Miguel Rojas, who was playing his first game since July 21.

In the second, Freeman's two-run RBI single to left extended the lead to 4-1.

The Phillies were 3 for 3 on challenges, getting calls overturned in the first, second and fifth innings.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Phillies: LF Austin Hays left the game in the third with left hamstring tightness.

Dodgers: RHP Brusdar Graterol had an MRI that showed a Grade 1 hamstring strain after leaving eight pitches into Wednesday's appearance. He went on the 15-day IL and the team hopes he'll be able to pitch again this season. ... SS Mookie Betts (hand), 3B Max Muncy (oblique) and newly acquired utilityman Tommy Edman (ankle and wrist) will participate in a simulated game at Dodger Stadium on Thursday. ... RHP Walker Buehler (hip) starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday.

UP NEXT

Phillies: LHP Kolby Allard (0-0, 4.50 ERA) starts Thursday at Arizona.

Dodgers: RHP Jack Flaherty (8-5, 2.80) makes his second start since coming to LA at the trade deadline on Friday against Pittsburgh. He pitched six shutout innings in a 10-0 win at Oakland last weekend.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani swings at a pitch during the fourth inning of a baseball game against Philadelphia Phillies in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates with teammates after scoring a run during the first inning of a baseball game against Philadelphia Phillies in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Tyler Phillips throws during the first inning of a baseball game against Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Gavin Stone throws during the first inning of a baseball game against Philadelphia Phillies in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani runs to first during the first inning of a baseball game against Philadelphia Phillies in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas jumps over Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) during the second inning of a baseball game in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) celebrates with teammates while crossing home plate during the sixth inning of a baseball game against Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper makes contact with the ball during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is ejected during the sixth inning of a baseball game against Philadelphia Phillies in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber hits a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Air traffic controllers in Denver lost communications with planes for 90 seconds earlier this week and had to scramble to use backup frequencies in the latest Federal Aviation Administration equipment failure.

The outage at a control facility that directs planes around Denver International Airport on Monday afternoon affected communications, not radar, the FAA's head of air traffic control, Frank McIntosh, said during a House hearing Thursday. This communications failure follows two high-profile outages of radar and communications in the past 2 1/2 weeks at a facility in Philadelphia that directs planes in and out of the Newark, New Jersey, airport.

The FAA said in a statement that the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center lost communications for approximately 90 seconds. McIntosh said both the primary and main backup frequencies went down, so the controllers had to turn to an emergency frequency to communicate.

“Controllers used another frequency to relay instructions to pilots. Aircraft remained safely separated and there were no impacts to operations,” the FAA said.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California told McIntosh during the hearing that these outages are happening more regularly and it’s concerning every time.

“We know that there are staffing and equipment problems at air traffic control,” Garcia said. “We know that the problems have gone back decades in some cases, but it’s still an absolutely shocking system failure and we need immediate solutions.”

Last week, the Trump administration announced a multibillion-dollar plan to overhaul an air traffic control system that relies on antiquated equipment. Air travel is safe even if the air traffic control system is old, but the problems in Newark were unacceptable and could have been prevented if the system had been upgraded sooner, said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a Thursday op-ed in Newsweek.

The Newark airport has generally led the nation in flight cancellations and delays ever since both radar and communications went out on April 28 and again on May 9. A third similar problem happened Sunday, but that time the backup system worked and kept radar online.

“The safety of the traveling public cannot continue being put at risk,” Democrat and ranking member Rep. Rick Larsen said after the hearing. “Problems with our system have crossed administrations, but safety improvements cannot span generations. We need action now.”

The FAA and airlines that fly out of Newark met again Thursday to discuss cutting flights because there aren’t enough controllers to handle them all. More than 140 flights have been canceled at Newark Thursday.

Officials developed the plan to upgrade the air traffic control system after a deadly midair collision in January between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people in the skies over Washington, D.C. Several other crashes this year also put pressure on officials to act.

A United Airlines jetliner prepares to push off from a gate at Denver International Airport Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)