The Los Angeles Dodgers wanted to make sure they got one victory in Philadelphia during the first two games of the National League Division Series.
Getting two wins just doubled the fun and the odds of advancing.
Blake Snell allowed one hit over six shutout innings and Will Smith delivered a two-run single during a four-run seventh as the Dodgers recorded a 4-3 victory over the host Phillies on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Snell (2-0) struck out nine and walked four in Game 2 for Los Angeles, which will look to complete a three-game sweep at home on Wednesday.
“To play here and get two wins in this environment is special,” Snell said. “The team is clicking right now. It’s a lot of fun.”
Postseason force Teoscar Hernandez had two hits and Roki Sasaki registered the final out as the Dodgers thrived in the intense Philadelphia atmosphere.
“For us to come out here, we were like, ‘Get one,'” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Then obviously when we won two days ago, we were gung-ho about getting two here. This is a hard place to play.
“We obviously put ourselves in a great position entering Wednesday. … To win two in this environment is massive.”
Edmundo Sosa’s soft single to center with two outs in the fifth was Philadelphia’s lone hit off Snell. Nick Castellanos had a two-run double for the Phillies.
Los Angeles reliever Blake Treinen entered in the ninth with the Dodgers leading 4-1, and he didn’t fare well.
Alec Bohm led off with a single to center, and J.T. Realmuto followed with a double to left. Castellanos reached for an outside sweeper and plopped it into left for the double to bring Philadelphia within one.
Alex Vesia entered, and Bryson Stott’s bid for a sacrifice bunt was foiled when Max Muncy threw to third and Mookie Betts tagged out Castellanos. Pinch hitter Harrison Bader followed with a single to left, and then Max Kapler bounced into a fielder’s choice to leave runners on the corners with two outs.
Sasaki replaced Vesia, and he retired Trea Turner on a grounder to second for his second save of the postseason.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson defended his decision to play for the tie, saying his bullpen was in better shape than Los Angeles’.
He also looked at the late-game charge as a positive sign.
“I love the fight in the eighth and ninth inning,” Thomson said. “We fought like hell and hopefully that carries over into Wednesday. This is a resilient group, our backs are against the wall, and we’ll come out fighting.”
Philadelphia’s Jesus Luzardo (0-1) pitched six-plus strong innings and was charged with two runs, three hits and one walk. He struck out five.
Luzardo retired 17 straight Dodgers before running into trouble in the seventh.
Teoscar Hernandez lined a leadoff single to center, and Freeman followed with a well-hit double to right.
Luzardo exited in favor of Orion Kerkering. One out later, Enrique Hernandez hit a grounder to shortstop, and Teoscar Hernandez slid in safely ahead of Turner’s throw to break the scoreless tie.
The bases were loaded with two outs when Smith laced a first-pitch sweeper into left-center to drive in two and make it 3-0.
Matt Strahm was summoned to face Shohei Ohtani, who ripped a single to right to knock in Muncy to complete the four-run uprising.
The Phillies got on the board in the eighth as Kepler hit a one-out triple to right off Emmet Sheehan and scored on Turner’s single to center.
Sheehan struck out Kyle Schwarber and retired Bryce Harper on a fly to center to end the inning.
The top three in the Philadelphia order — Turner, Schwarber and Harper — are struggling in the series. Turner and Harper are both 1-for-7 with three strikeouts and Schwarber is 0-for-7 with five strikeouts.
“I wouldn’t say pressing,” Harper said of the trio’s struggles. “We’re missing pitches over the plate and they’re making good pitches and that’s how baseball works sometimes.”
–Field Level Media
