Dodgers fall to Phillies, 6-2, after Joel Peralta gives up grand slam

Everyone was warned Alex Wood had a funky delivery, but even he appeared stunned at its results in the seventh inning Tuesday.

Making his first start with the Dodgers, a botched Wood delivery turned into a balk, which ultimately led to reliever Joel Peralta giving up a grand slam to Maikel Franco.

That was enough to propel the Phillies to a 6-2 victory over the Dodgers on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park, ending their four-game winning streak.

Wood, acquired last week in that 13-player trade, became the 16th starting pitcher used by the Dodgers this season, most in the majors.

It wasn’t the ideal debut – he gave up a hit in each of the seven innings he worked but the fourth – but he was continually battling out of trouble.

By the time the seventh inning came around, he had already thrown 93 pitches. Carlos Ruiz opened the Philadelphia half of the inning with a single. Domonic Brown hit a bouncer to Howie Kendrick at second base, but instead of trying to throw out the lead runner, Kendrick threw to first to get Brown.

With first base now open, the Dodgers elected to intentionally walk Cesar Hernandez. With Odubel Herrera batting, Wood and his herky-jerky motion went into the stretch. Or he tried to, anyway. As he did, the ball slipped out of his glove and slowly rolled on the grass between first and home.

Ruiz came all the way around to score, or so he initially thought. The umpires huddled, called it a balk and advanced each runner up one base. After Wood then walked Herrera, the Dodgers went to Peralta. The score was 1-1. Wood had thrown 109 pitches.

Peralta’s third pitch was a curveball that Franco hit over the left-field wall for a grand slam. It was his 12th home run of the season.

Three of the runs were charged to Wood (7-7), which didn’t do anything to lower his ERA (3.65). In his 6 1/3 innings, he was charged with four runs on eight hits and three walks. He struck out six.

It was neither the lights-out first start with the Dodgers Wood had hoped for, nor one that would be cause for concern. He gave the Dodgers plenty of opportunity to win.

Wood struggled immediately. He had to pitch out of trouble in the first two innings, before the Phillies pushed a run across in the third. With one out, Hernandez singled and Herrera doubled him home.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers kept flirting with an offense. They had runners at second and third with no outs in the third and failed to score. They had the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth and failed to score.

Finally in the fifth, with runners at first and second with one out, Andre Ethier – who hit a walk-off homer Sunday – singled to drive in the tying run.

After Philadelphia – which despite having baseball’s worst record has now won 13 of its last 16 games – went up by four, the Dodgers got one run back in the eighth. Singles by Yasmani Grandal and Alberto Callaspo preceded a pinch-hit RBI double by Carl Crawford.

Phillies starter Jerome Williams went five innings. Though he gave up seven hits and three walks, the Dodgers got to him for only one run.

Philadelphia added one more run against left-hander Luis Avilan, also making his debut with the Dodgers. He walked Freddy Galvis, who stole second and scored on a Brown base hit.

Jimmy Rollins, in his first game back in Philadelphia after spending 15 seasons with the Phillies, doubled and singled in five at-bats. He also committed an error.

The loss cut the Dodgers’ lead over the Giants back to two games in the National League West.