“The juju wasn’t right for us at homestand” - Evan Phillips reflects on the Dodgers’ struggle at home after successful road series

The Los Angeles Dodgers registered their fourth straight win, with the recent being a 2-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday at Nationals Park. This comes after a rough home stretch where the club dropped two back-to-back series against the Nationals and the New York Mets.

Evan Philips earned the save on Thursday's low-run affair, coming in the ninth and protecting a one-run lead. Following the game, Emmy Award-winning reporter Kirsten Watson interviewed the closer on the sidelines. She asked how it feels to beat the Nats on the road after going through something similar in LA.

"I guess we just needed a road trip, you know, just to get out of L.A. for a little bit," Phillips said. "And the juju wasn't right for us at homestand. But, you know, it's a long season. So I think our whole mindset inside is just continue to go after it each and every day. And it certainly felt good to come in here in D.C. and get some revenge against these guys."

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Evan Philips affirms Dodgers signing of a hefty contract to acquire Yoshinobu Yamamoto

A lot was expected from Yoshinobu Yamamoto when the Dodgers signed him to a 12-year, $325 million contract earlier this offseason. He made his debut in Game 2 of the Seoul Series but only pitched one inning as he surrendered five runs to the San Diego Padres.

Since then, Yamamoto has been fairly inconsistent with seeing traffic at bases since the start of the season. However, on Thursday, he pitched six shutout innings against the Washington Nationals as he found his groove in the MLB.

MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers at Washington Nationals

In what can be deemed his best outing in the majors so far, Yamamoto only allowed four hits and one walk while striking out seven hitters. With this, he improved his season ERA to 3.54.

In his interview with Watson, Philips lauded Yamamoto's performance and said he deserved the contract.

"It's impressive every single time he takes them out," Phillips said about Yamamoto.

"I know the results haven't been there every single time, but watching him go about his day to day, it makes sense to see him succeed on the mound," he added. "And sure enough, makes sense to give him the contract that he got. So we're really happy to have him and excited to see where he can take it."

With the win, the Dodgers have now improved to 16-11 and will continue their road trip with a new series against the Toronto Blue Jays, starting on Friday.