PHILADELPHIA -- Heading into their first domestic road trip of the season, it had been 157 days since the Dodgers had to stomach a defeat that truly meant something. It was Game 4 of the World Series, when they fell 11-4 to the Yankees before clinching the eighth title in franchise history the following night.
The good times continued into the new season as the Dodgers went on a tear to open their title defense, putting together an 8-0 start that ranked as the best by a defending World Series champion -- and the third best in franchise history, behind only the 1955 (10-0) and '40 (9-0) clubs. But the team was bound to lose eventually, and that time came on Friday night, when Los Angeles fell 3-2 to Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park.
"Uncharted territory," manager Dave Roberts said of losing, with a wry, fleeting smile. "No. Just that funky first run [when Trea Turner scored on a throwing error]. ¡ When you give a good team outs and shorten the game, then it's hard to win. It's hard to beat a good team. That's what happened tonight."
The Dodgers' season-opening run was remarkable not only because of its history, but because of how they accomplished it. They faced two teams who made the postseason last year, the Tigers and the Braves. Not only that, they conquered both reigning Cy Young Award winners, winning games started by Tarik Skubal and Chris Sale.
They also had to make do without Mookie Betts for three games and Freddie Freeman -- who was placed on the 10-day injured list on Thursday -- for five.
No matter how talented a team is, going 162-0 is obviously an unachievable feat. The Dodgers know that, and yet they've felt that every time they've taken the field this season, they've been in a good position to win.
That confidence can be attributed, in part, to another astounding fact about the season-opening run: Six of those eight season-opening wins were of the comeback variety, another unprecedented feat in Major League history. But the Dodgers could not eke out a seventh due to a multitude of factors.
There was the lone run the Phillies scored off Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who allowed a first-inning double to Turner, then made an errant throw when Turner stole third base, allowing him to score the opening run. It went down as an unearned run in the box score, but it was made possible by Yamamoto's own errant throw.
"That was very regrettable," Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. "It was a very fundamental play."
There was also the howling wind that kept a screamer of a flyout from Shohei Ohtani -- one that left the bat with a 110 mph exit velocity and a 32-degree launch angle -- within the confines of the ballpark.
There was a lockdown effort by the Phillies' pitching staff -- but the Dodgers also made their job easier by running into three outs on the basepaths, including one that ended the ballgame.
Phillies southpaw Jes¨²s Luzardo carved through the Dodgers' lineup across his first six innings, retiring 13 in a row between the two baserunners he allowed. Andy Pages broke up that stretch with a one-out walk in the sixth, but he was picked off and caught stealing second base to end the inning.
The Dodgers had another opportunity in the eighth, with runners on the corners and two outs for Betts, who was up as the potential tying run. But Ohtani was thrown out trying to steal second base, putting an end to the rally.
Perhaps fittingly, the game ended with a third out on the basepaths, when pinch-runner Chris Taylor was thrown out trying to steal second, just three batters after Tommy Edman's two-run homer brought the Dodgers within a run.
"I thought that last inning, 'CT' got a good jump, and it was just pretty much the perfect pitch to throw on," Edman said. "So [Realmuto] just made a great throw, and I think getting the tying run to second base was going to be huge there.
"We tried to put the pressure on. He made a great play."
Even considering that the series-opening loss was only the Dodgers' first in a long season, it was a tough pill to swallow because of how it unfolded.
"Any loss is tough and I hate losing -- we hate losing," Roberts said. "But I think it does go to how we play. ¡ We've gotten away with it some games early, but this is something that we've got to get better at."