LOS ANGELES — The Philadelphia Phillies tried to tell everyone they wouldn’t panic.
No one believed it.
They kept saying that maybe a change of scenery to Dodger Stadium would relax them.
No one believed it.
They insisted that their powerful trio of All-Star hitters would break out.
No one believed it.
When the Philadelphia Phillies lined up Wednesday night on the Dodger Stadium field for handshakes, blasting the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-2 in front of a stunned sellout crowd of 53,689, they suddenly have a whole lot of believers.
The Phillies still are in trouble, of course, trailing the Dodgers 2-1 in this best-of-five National League Division Series, with Game 4 scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 9 at Dodger Stadium.
Yet, they are alive.
And they also have that dynamic the Dodgers badly wanted to prevent.
Momentum.
“Momentum’s always something that you don’t know if it’s real or not,’ Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said before the game. “You definitely feel it, though, as a player in certain situations, you feel the momentum change.
‘Obviously we want to finish this tonight, and we don’t want to let anything slip away from us. That’s one of those things, when you talk about momentum, if you don’t finish it tonight, you feel like it’s slipping away. That’s definitely not something you want to have happen.’
Well, it happened.
“We want to put these guys away,’’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game, “and don’t let them up for air.’
Well, after what transpired Wednesday, the Phillies suddenly have confidence too.
The Phillies, whose season was on life support after losing the first two games in front of their home crowd at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, believe they can pull this off.
After all, they became the first team in two weeks to beat the defending World Series champions, snapping the Dodgers’ nine-game winning streak.
While Ranger Suarez was brilliant in his five-inning outing coming in relief for Aaron Nola in the third inning, it was the Phillies’ powerful trio who reminded everyone just what they’re capable of doing to the opposition.
Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Trea Turner, who were in a 2-for-21 skid entering the game, put on a power-hitting clinic for everyone to see.
There was Schwarber hitting two home runs, including a 455-foot blast in the fourth inning, with three RBIs.
Turner, who produced three hits and two RBI, broke the game open in the Phillies’ five-run eighth.
There was Harper who had a two-hit game and reached base three times.
Just like that, the Phillies looked like well … the Phillies.
They made sure that Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who entered the game with a 0.66 ERA in his last six starts, couldn’t make it out of the fifth inning.
It began with Schwarber, who had been hitless in his last 22 at-bats when he stepped up to the plate to lead off the fourth. The slump ended with one majestic swing of the bat.
Schwarber sent Yamamoto’s fastball nearly out of the stadium, landing 455 feet into the right-field pavillion. It was hit so far, and so hard (117-mph), that Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernandez didn’t move.
Just like that, the Phillies’ bats awoke.
Harper, who had also been handcuffed this series, followed by slapping a single to left field. Byson Stott singled and when Harper headed to third, center fielder Andy Pages tried to get him. The ball instead sailed past third baseman Max Muncy and bounced into the Dodgers’ dugout, scoring Harper with Stott advancing to third. Brandon Marsh made it 3-1 with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Yamamoto came out for the fifth, but was immediately greeted by with singles by Bryson Stott and Trea Turner knocking him out of the game. It was his shortest outing since June 1.
The Phillies, after a double steal, then had a golden opportunity to blow open the game against left-handed reliever Anthony Banda. Yet, Schwarber struck out. Harper hit a shallow pop-up to right field. And after Bohm was intentionally walked, loading the bases, Brandon Marsh struck out on three pitches. Well, technically two ptiches – with Marsh being charged with an automatic strike on a pich clock violation.
The Phillies threatened again in the seventh inning off three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw coming into the game relief, with a leadoff single by Turner and a walk by Schwarber. But Harper flied out to right, and then Schwarber was picked off first base when he wandered too far, and the opportunity ended on Brandon Marsh’s line drive to right.
Finally, they broke through in the eighth on J.T. Realmuto’s homer, Turner’s two-run single, and a two-run homer by Schwarber.
Who knows what can happen now, with Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts vividly remembering the feeling of struggling in the postseason before ending his slump last year.
“I’ve been there…,’ Betts said. “When you get in that rut and it seems like it’s quicksand. No matter what you do you just can’t get out of it. It’s tough. Hell, I didn’t get out of it. So I have no advice or anything. I mean, shoot, I would have if I knew what to do.
“Good luck to those guys and we’ll see if they have the answer.”
For one night, they certainly did.
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Here’s how Wednesday’s game unfolded:
Kyle Schwarber home run blows it open
Coming back out for a second inning, Clayton Kershaw gave up a leadoff home run to J.T. Realmuto. He then walked Max Kepler and Nick Castellanos reached on an error before Bryson Stott bunted them to second and third. With one out, Trea Turner hit a two-RBI single to make it 6-1 Phillies. Then, Kyle Schwarber delivered his second home run of the game, a two-run shot that extended Philadelphia’s lead to 8-1.
Clayton Kershaw comes out of the bullpen
Trailing 3-1 in the seventh, Dave Roberts brought Clayton Kershaw out of the bullpen for his first appearance of the 2025 postseason. Kershaw was met with the Phillies’ best hitters and gave up a leadoff single to Trea Turner before walking Kyle Schwarber. The veteran left-hander got Bryce Harper to fly out and then Schwarber was picked off in a baserunning blunder for the second out.
After intentionally walking Alec Bohm, Kershaw retired Brandon Marsh on a hard-hit line drive to right, getting out of the inning without allowing a run.
Kershaw, retiring at the end of the season, won three Cy Youngs and an MVP award, surely heading for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Phillies still lead 6-1 in the sixth
Anthony Banda (fifth) and Jack Dreyer (sixth) put up zeroes relieving Yoshinobu Yamamoto, managing to keep the Phillies from adding insurance runs despite Philadelphia loading the bases in the fifth.
Phillies ambush Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the fourth
Kyle Schwarber’s mammoth home run led off the top of the fourth and tied the game. The next batter, Bryce Harper, singled and then scored as a result of Andy Pages’ throwing error on Alec Bohm’s single. The ball went out of play and moved Bohm to third and Brandon Marsh brought him home with a sacrifice fly for the first out of the inning. J.T. Realmuto hit a ground-rule double but Yamamoto got Max Kepler and Nick Castellanos to end the frame with the Phillies up 3-1.
Kyle Schwarber home run ties it up
Leading off the fourth inning, Kyle Schwarber hit a 455-foot homer off Yoshinobu Yamamoto to tie the game.
The Phillies slugger had been stuck in an 0-for-23 slump having led the Natioinaln League with 56 home runs in the regular season.
Tommy Edman home run welcomes Ranger Suarez
Phillies manager Rob Thomson stuck with his plan to limit Aaron Nola’s exposure and pulled the right-hander after two innings to put in southpaw Ranger Suarez.
On Suarez’s first pitch of the night, switch-hitter Tommy Edman hit a solo home run to left field, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the third.
Meanwhile, Yoshinobu Yamamoto held the Phillies hitless through three innings.
Aaron Nola escapes first-inning jam
Dodgers-Phillies Game 3 underway in Los Angeles
Yoshinobu Yamamoto worked around Bryce Harper’s two-out walk to toss a scoreless first at Dodger Stadium.
In his second year after signing a $325 million contract before throwing an MLB pitch, the Japanese right-hander was the Dodgers’ ace this season with an All-Star nod and a 2.49 ERA.
Phillies lineup today
- Trea Turner (R) SS
- Kyle Schwarber (L) DH
- Bryce Harper (L) 1B
- Alec Bohm (R) 3B
- Brandon Marsh (L) CF
- J.T. Realmuto (R) C
- Max Kepler (L) LF
- Nick Castellanos (R) RF
- Bryson Stott (L) 2B
Dodgers lineup today
- Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
- Mookie Betts (R) SS
- Teoscar Hernández (R) RF
- Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
- Will Smith (R) C
- Enrique Hernández (R) LF
- Max Muncy (L) 3B
- Andy Pages (R) CF
- Tommy Edman (S) 2B
Will Smith returns to Dodgers lineup
The Dodgers’ All-Star catcher is in the starting lineup for the first time this postseason in Game 3, coming off the bench in each of the first two games in the series. Smith had missed nearly a month with a hand fracture.
‘The at-bats have been fantastic especially considering the arms that he’s had to face coming into both those games and the lay-off,’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Game 3.
‘If I didn’t feel he could finish a game I wouldn’t have started him. I feel good. He’s in a good spot. I think the at-bat quality has been great.’