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The Dodgers closed out what had been a strong road trip on a sour note Sunday, falling to the Mets 8-3 after the bullpen coughed up a pair of three-run home runs. Evan Phillips and Will Klein each gave up a three-run blast — the big one belonging to Tyrone Taylor, whose shot off Phillips broke the game open, per staff reports from MLB.com and the Los Angeles Times.

Phillips has been one of the more reliable arms in our bullpen all season, which is exactly what makes an outing like this one sting. The right-hander earned the closer role after Blake Treinen went down and has generally handled the pressure well. But every reliever has days where the ball doesn’t do what it’s supposed to, and Sunday was one of those days. Giving up a three-run homer to Taylor — a veteran outfielder who’s been a part-time player for the Mets — is the kind of result that’s more about one bad pitch than a trend. I wouldn’t panic about Phillips. Not yet.

Klein, meanwhile, is still finding his footing at the major league level. The tall right-hander has a power arm and the kind of raw stuff that gets you excited, but he’s also prone to the occasional mistake pitch that gets hammered at this level. Surrendering a three-run homer of his own only compounded the damage. For a young reliever trying to cement a roster spot heading into the stretch run, outings like this don’t help his case — especially with reinforcements potentially on the way from the injured list and via trade deadline acquisitions.

Taylor, for his part, delivered the decisive blow. The journeyman outfielder has bounced around a few organizations and has always had sneaky pop in his bat. His three-run homer off Phillips was the kind of swing that reminds you why managers keep guys like him around — even on a struggling Mets club, he can ambush a pitch when he gets one.

The bigger picture here is actually pretty manageable. The Dodgers still took the series from New York and had a productive road trip overall. You’re not going to sweep every series, and losing the finale because the bullpen had an off day isn’t cause for alarm. That said, it does underscore what we already know: this bullpen needs help. With Treinen and others still working their way back from injuries, and the trade deadline approaching, Andrew Friedman and the front office have every reason to add a reliable arm or two. We’ve got the depth in the farm system to make a move, and games like this one are a reminder that depth in the bullpen matters — especially in October.

Chalk this one up as a bad day at the office. The road trip was still a success. But if the front office needed any extra motivation to be aggressive at the deadline, the bullpen just handed it to them on a silver platter.

Source(s): Staff (MLB.com) | Staff (Los Angeles Times) | First reported: July 26, 2026 9:15 PM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers