Puig’s 4-hit game lifts Dodgers over Phillies

LOS ANGELES - June was a month to savor for Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig and one to forget for Philadelphia Phillies’ slumping first baseman Ryan Howard.

Puig ended his sensational first month in the major leagues with his first four-hit game, Stephen Fife scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings and the Dodgers beat the Phillies, 6-1, Sunday to take three of four in the series.

“Puig’s definitely brought an energy and a spark to us, and his skill level, I think, is a little more than anybody anticipated it would be,” Fife said. “Ever since he first got here, I’ve had a lot of friends and family ask me: ‘Hey, what’s it like?’ And I just say: ‘Keep watching, because it’s going to be historic.’ And as it’s turned out, it’s been a pretty historic start.”

Puig finished June with 44 hits, surpassing the 42 by Pittsburgh’s Bob Elliott in September 1939 for the second-most in a player’s first full calendar month in the major leagues. Joe DiMaggio had 48 in May 1936.