Dodgers Reliever Has a Bizarre LA-First on Thursday

Evan Phillips had an oddly historic night on Thursday for the Dodgers.

Thursday night's game wasn't exactly heart-stopping entertainment. Unless you're an Arizona fan. For the Dodgers faithful, the outcome of the game stood in stark contrast to the team's 1-0 loss to Washington on Wednesday. LA pummeled the Diamondbacks in a 14-1 route.

During the Dodgers 24-hit romp in Arizona, history was made. Now that the universal DH has been instituted, it's quite rare to see a pitcher hit anymore. In fact, until Thursday night, a pitcher had no recorded an at-bat according to The Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett. 

Until the Dodgers made a move that was quite embarrassing for the desert snakes. Reliever Evan Phillips was put into the game to pitch the bottom of the sixth inning with the game well in hand, but then, he was inserted into the batting order for Freddie Freeman in the top of the seventh inning.

That's right, the Dodgers were so comfortable with their 10-1 lead that they elected to lose their DH for the rest of their game. 

It was the first time a Dodgers pitcher had recorded an at-bat in the universal DH era. 

Phillips didn't make a fool of himself either. He induced a five-pitch walk in the top of the eighth.

Now if one desired to split hairs, Hanser Alberto has logged an at-bat while serving as the Dodgers pitcher, but he's a position player, not a pitcher. 

On the season Phillips has a 3.00 ERA across 17 appearances (18 IP). The pitcher turned hitter was acquired by Los Angeles in August 2021 after being waived by the Tampa Bay Rays.