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It was quintessential October baseball.

Two starting pitchers dominating two helpless lineups.

A low-scoring contest in which every stranded baserunner felt like a monumental missed opportunity.

A nail-biting affair decided by one team cashing in a rare scoring chance, and the other failing to do the same.

In the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies had two aboard with one out, but came up empty.

In the next half-inning, the Dodgers faced the same situation, but came away with four runs.

That was the difference in the Dodgers’ 4-3 victory at Citizens Bank Park, giving them a commanding 2-0 lead in a best-of-five series that will shift to Dodger Stadium for Game 3 on Wednesday.

For most of Monday night, a crowd of 45,653 in South Philadelphia sat anxiously in anticipation, waiting for the dam to break in an old-fashioned pitchers' duel.

On one side, Blake Snell was dotting his fastball up in the zone and to both parts of the plate, giving the Phillies little to hit while setting them up to flail at his dominant arsenal of secondary weapons. Through four innings, he retired 12 of 14 batters with only two walks allowed. He had gotten whiffs on each of the first 11 non-fastballs he threw. And not until there were two outs in the fifth did he give up his first hit.

Opposite him, Jesús Luzardo was equally effective. After stranding runners on the corners in a shaky first, the left-hander locked in and made the Dodgers look silly with a barrage of sweepers and changeups that dipped below the zone. Where he needed 24 pitches in the first, he completed the next five on just 48 throws. In that time, he retired 17 in a row and let only two balls even leave the infield.

Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, the narrative began to change.

The Phillies generated the game’s first big opportunity, after Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber walked in back-to-back at-bats against Snell with one out. It was the first time all night their lineup had gotten a runner past first. And it happened as two-time MVP Bryce Harper came strolling to the plate.

Read more:Hernández: The Phillies are done, and the Dodgers' path to the World Series looks clear

Snell’s plan of attack against Harper was simple. His first pitch was a slider in the dirt. His next was another one up in the zone Harper fouled off. Two more sliders followed, with Harper fanning on the first and fouling off the next. Then, after one change-of-pace curveball was buried in front of the plate, Snell went back to the slider one more time. It darted below Harper’s swing for a strikeout. Citizens Bank Park groaned.

The inning ended a batter later, when Alec Bohm chased a 2-and-0 changeup and hit a ground ball to third base. Miguel Rojas fielded it behind the bag, clocked the speedy Bohm racing toward first, and decided to go the short — albeit risky — way instead, sprinting to third base and beating Turner to the bag with a head-first slide.

That ended the inning. This time, frustrated boos rained down from the stands.

Minutes later, the Dodgers would be in front. Unlike the Phillies, they didn’t squander their one opportunity for runs.

Teoscar Hernández led off the top of the seventh with a single. Freddie Freeman followed with a line drive to weak-fielding Nick Castellanos (who was drawn into the Phillies’ lineup following an injury to Harrison Bader in Game 1) in right, getting on his horse to leg out a hustle double.

That knocked Luzardo out of the game. And in a move that would soon be second-guessed, Phillies manager Rob Thompson opted for right-handed reliever Orion Kerkering instead of dominant closer Jhoan Duran.

Kerkering got one quick out, striking out Tommy Edman.

But then Kiké Hernández hit a cue-ball grounder to Turner at shortstop. After a slight hesitation, Teoscar Hernández broke for home hard. As Turner fielded the ball and fired to the plate, Hernández chugged in with a feet-first slide. Catcher J.T. Realmuto’s tag was a split-second too late.

The Dodgers had opened the scoring — and would only keep adding on.

With two outs in the inning, Will Smith (who, like in Game 1, entered as a mid-game replacement as he continues to work back from his fractured hand) hit a two-run single to left. Shohei Ohtani, who had been hitless in the series and 0 for 3 earlier in the night, tacked on another with a ground ball that got through the infield.

By the time the dust settled, the Dodgers had surged to a 4-0 lead.

They would need every bit of it.

Emmet Sheehan followed Snell’s six-inning, one-hit, nine-strikeout gem with two innings of relief, retiring the side in the seventh before limiting damage in the eighth, when he gave up one run after a Max Kepler triple and Turner RBI single but retired the side on a strikeout of Schwarber and a fly ball from Harper.

Read more:Shaikin: Clayton Kershaw isn't first Hall of Fame-bound pitcher to finish career in Dodgers bullpen

The real trouble came in the ninth, when the Dodgers turned to Blake Treinen — and not recently ascendant bullpen ace Roki Sasaki — to close the game.

Treinen couldn’t, giving up a leadoff single and back-to-back doubles to J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos to bring home two runs and put the tying runner at second.

Alex Vesia entered next and got two outs (one of them, a crucial play from third baseman Max Muncy to field a bunt and throw out Castellanos at third as the lead runner). Then, Sasaki was finally summoned to face Turner with runners on the corners.

He induced a ground ball to second baseman Tommy Edman. Edman spiked his throw to first, but Freeman picked it with a sprawling effort. And once again, the Phillies had failed to completely cash in on a scoring chance — leaving the Dodgers one win away from advancing to the NL Championship Series.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

This is over.

Or, from the perspective of the Dodgers, this is just starting.

Because the Dodgers are returning to the World Series.

Technically, they still have to close out their National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. They still have to win the NL Championship Series.

But they will.

Read more:Dodgers survive ninth-inning scare to defeat Phillies and take commanding lead in NLDS

They will because they won’t blow the two-games-to-none lead they have after their 4-3 victory over the Phillies on Monday in Game 2 of their best-of-five series.

They will because the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs don’t have the firepower necessary to take down these Dodgers in the next round.

The Phillies were to the Dodgers this year what the San Diego Padres were last year. They were their greatest obstacle. The road back to the World Series is almost cleared.

The Dodgers can officially eliminate the Phillies on Wednesday, and they should.

Game 3 will be played at Dodger Stadium.

Their best pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, will be on the mound.

Call in a priest — or a padre. The time has come to read the Phillies their last rites.

The Dodgers didn’t come close to winning 120 games, and they were underwhelming in the regular season, which explains why they were unable to secure either of the first-round byes that were claimed by the Phillies and Brewers. They entered the postseason with an alarmingly untrustworthy bullpen, and that bullpen nearly blew a four-run lead in Game 2.

But in stealing two wins at Citizens Bank Park, the Dodgers demonstrated they still have that championship something that no other team in baseball has.

That something emerged on Monday night in the six scoreless innings pitched by Blake Snell, the run-scoring slide by Teoscar Hernández on a slow roller by Kike Hernández, the two-run single by Will Smith that broke open the game, the insurance run driven in by Shohei Ohtani. That something was reflected in the two innings contributed by converted starter Emmet Sheehan, and game-saving defensive plays made by Miguel Rojas, Max Muncy and Mookie Betts.

The Phillies don’t have that something, and the championship window that was opened by the likes of Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber might now be closed. They certainly recognized this, which is why Phillies manager Rob Thomson made no effort to downplay the importance of Game 2.

If anything, Thomson emphasized how critical the game was by saying before the game that Ranger Suarez and Aaron Nola could pitch in relief.

Suarez and Nola were two candidates to start Game 3.

“This is a big game tonight,” Thomson said. “We talked all year long about winning series and how the first game is important. Well, the second game is pretty important when you get to a five-game series or seven-game series because it’s a swing game.”

Thomson was prepared to deploy Suarez in a high-leverage situation. He was ready to call on Nola if the game went into extra innings.

“And we’ll figure out Game 3,” Thomson said.

The home fans comprehended the stakes. Citizens Bank Park was a madhouse in Game 1, but the crowd for Game 2 was comparatively toned down.

The nervous tension in the stadium quickly morphed into unbridled frustration, as the Phillies lineup was unable to do anything against Snell.

There were boos when batting champion Trea Turner struck out in the third inning. There were boos when Brandon Marsh was caught stealing on a pickoff by Snell to end the inning. There were more boos when Alec Bohm struck out for the final out of the fourth.

The first hit Snell gave up was with two outs in the fifth inning, a flare single to center field by Edmundo Sosa. The very next batter, Marsh, grounded out. More boos.

How nervous were Phillies fans? When a warning on the public-address system about streaking was followed by a bare-chested Philly Phanatic running across the outfield before the sixth inning, they offered no reaction. Baseball’s most iconic mascot was completely ignored.

Up to this point, the Dodgers were equally unproductive against the Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo. Betts singled and Teoscar Hernández walked in successive at-bats in the first inning, only for Luzardo to retire the next 17 batters in a row.

The Phillies threatened Snell for the first time in the sixth inning when Turner and Kyle Schwarber drew successive one-out walks. Up next: Harper, a two-time NL most valuable player.

In almost any other postseason, this is where manager Dave Roberts would have instructed one of his coaches to phone the bullpen. But Roberts wasn’t about to replace Snell, not at this stage of the game, not with the combustibility of his relievers.

Read more:Dodgers lean on big seventh inning to defeat Phillies and take 2-0 NLDS lead

Snell struck out Harper and made Bohm ground into a force out. The game remained scoreless.

Teoscar Hernández singled and Freddie Freeman doubled to start the seventh inning, forcing Thomson into the position Roberts was in the previous inning. Thomson made a mistake but not because he removed Luzardo. His error was in the pitcher he chose to replace him. With closer Jhoan Duran available, Thomson went with Orion Kerkering.

With runners on second and third, Tommy Edman was struck out by Kerkering for the first out. But Kike Hernández hit a slow roller to short and Teoscar Henández beat Turner’s throw home for the first run of the game. Rojas walked to load the bases, setting up a two-run single by Smith. Ohtani, who was hitless in his previous seven at-bats of this series, singled to right field to drive in a valuable insurance run.

The Dodgers were on their way.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Phillies have nothing left to lose going to Los Angeles in NLDS originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

A broken bat roller in the seventh inning just to the right of the pitching mound was almost fittingly the biggest batted ball of the evening for the Phillies Monday night. Game 2 of the NLDS was a steamy pitching duel between Jesús Luzardo and Blake Snell.

More hits were to be had by the Dodgers and Phillies, but that broken-bat play broke the seal for the Los Angeles as they went on to a 4-3 win to go up 2-0 in this NLDS. Game 3 is scheduled for Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers batted around in the seventh inning, after Teoscar Hernandez chased Jesús Luzardo for a single and Freddie Freeman’s double. It was only the second and third hits given up on the night by Luzardo, who certainly deserved a better fate—just like Cristopher Sánchez did in Game 1.

Orion Kerkering replaced Luzardo and, after striking out Tommy Edman, sawed off Kike Hernandez with a 97 MPH sinker. Trea Turner charged and threw home, but the throw was to the first base side and J.T. Realmuto’s tag was late. The Dodgers grabbed a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

At the time, it was just a run. And even when Kerkering walked the bases loaded with two outs, he was about to face the nine-hole hitter and able to see his way out of a big inning. But pinch-hitter Will Smith lined a first-pitch single to left-center for two more runs and Shohei Ohtani singled in another.

The excitement in Citizens Bank Park deflated like a day-old helium balloon.

The Phillies got the thrill in the air again in the ninth inning by scoring a couple of runs on a two-RBI double by Nick Castellanos, but a failed sacrifice bunt, a fielder’s choice and a groundout by Turner ended the game. Another game closer to ending the series. The Phillies are now 3-7 in their last 10 home playoff games.

And that’s been the problem in these first two games of this series, the Phillies just don’t seem to have enough air to breathe some life back into themselves when they get down. The top of the order, or any part of the order for that matter, can’t come up with big hits.

The relievers haven’t come close to being shut down ones and there has been little hope and whole lot of disappointment, like in the sixth inning Monday, when Bryce Harper stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and one out against Blake. It seemed so ripe for it to be a Harper moment, for him to generate some much-needed electricity through his team. Instead, he struck out swinging on a nasty slider from Blake.

“We’d like those guys (at the top of the order) to be swinging the bats, but I do like what we’re doing at the bottom part of the order,” said Rob Thomson. “Snell was good again today. I thought our bats were better against him tonight than they were in L.A. I don’t think we got out of the zone as much as we did in L.A. You have to have confidence that those guys will get it going.

“I think those guys are trying to do a little bit too much right now. Instead of just being themselves and looking for base hits and the power will come.”

The two biggest surprises from the Phillies thus far are these: That without Zack Wheeler their starting pitching is still the biggest strength of this team and that this veteran-laden lineup struggles so mightily of late come playoff time.

“I’ll have a little meeting with them on Wednesday,” said Thomson. “I love the fight in the eighth and ninth inning. We fought like hell and hopefully that carries over into Wednesday. But this is a resilient group, our backs are against the wall. Just got to come out fighting.”

Fighting is a given. They are not going to give up on at-bats, nor fail to hustle after batted balls. They just don’t seem to land the punches enough when there seems to be openings to do so, which granted, have been few and far between. And it certainly doesn’t help that Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Harper are a combined 2-for-21 in this series.

Sure, the Phillies have faced two terrific starters in this series in Ohtani and Snell. But the Dodgers have also faced Sánchez and Luzardo and have figured out answers with timely hitting being chief among them. They also figured out a way to solve their biggest problem, which was their bullpen, by using back-end starters like Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki in Game One and Emmet Sheehan in Game Two. While Thomson flirted with using Ranger Suarez in these games and maybe even Aaron Nola, the proper situation, to him, never came about and now he finds his team in the deepest of holes.

Nola now becomes the Game Three starter, Thomson announced after the game, with Suarez ready to piggy-back if needed. Thomson again professed his trust in Nola, and now he’ll make his biggest start of the season.

“I’m going to compete as best as I can,” Nola said. “Going into L.A, we got to, obviously, got to get a win and take it inning by inning and pitch for pitch. You have to take it one game at a time. You can’t get three wins in game three, right. So, you got to take it one game at a time.

“I’ve been feeling pretty good lately and my body’s all healthy. I think it’s (the ball) coming out pretty well. So, keep that going and hopefully have a good start.”

It’s not time to write the obituary on this season just yet, or maybe even this era. But you also have to wonder how much of this core group is going to be returning as Suarez, Realmuto and Schwarber will all be free agents after the season.

Perhaps it won’t be just an end to a season with their next loss to the Dodgers, it just might be the end of an era. One that certainly doesn’t appear to be going out with a bang, if that is the case.

Not due to any fault of Luzardo, who allowed just three hits during his six innings. Consider that during his time in the game, the Phillies didn’t get their first hit off Snell until he threw his 72nd pitch with two outs in the fifth inning and Edmundo Sosa blooped it to center for a single.

And when a big hit was needed, again, in the ninth, the Phillies just couldn’t find it after Castellanos’ double. That put him on second with nobody out and his team trailing 4-3. He was then thrown out at third when Stott’s bunt was controlled perfectly by the Dodgers on a wheel play. Harrison Bader then singled to put runners at first and second with one out, but neither Max Kepler nor Turner could drive in anything and the Phillies now go to Los Angeles on the thinnest of ice.

Luzardo's effort buried by Phillies' silenced bats in Game 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Jesús Luzardo gave the Phillies everything he had.

They came into Monday needing nine complete innings on both sides of the baseball. Luzardo did his part.

Making his first start in 12 days, the first-year Phillie looked completely unfazed. The lefty followed up a 32-start, double-digit win regular season with one of the sharpest outings of his 2025 campaign — and easily his best on the postseason stage.

That hadn’t always been the case. As a rookie with the Athletics, Luzardo threw three scoreless innings out of the bullpen in the 2019 AL Wild Card Game against Tampa Bay. But since then, his postseason record had been rough: three starts, 11 ⅔ innings, and 10 earned runs — including a loss at Citizens Bank Park in 2023.

He cleaned that slate almost entirely.

After a 24-pitch first inning, Luzardo locked in. His next five frames were flawless — 48 pitches, no hits, no walks and four strikeouts. He retired 17 straight Dodgers, the second-longest streak in franchise postseason history.

“The first was bumpier than expected,” Luzardo said. “But after we got out of that, it felt pretty smooth. Me and J.T. had a good mix, kept guys off balance, used a good amount of offspeed and fastballs in certain counts. Keeping them off balance was the key.”

The only issue? Blake Snell was just as dominant.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning. By the time his night was over, Snell had tossed six one-hit innings with nine strikeouts, generating 23 whiffs — the second most by a Dodgers left-handed pitcher in a playoff game during the Pitch-Tracking Era (2008).

“I thought our at-bats were better tonight than they were in L.A. [against Snell three weeks ago],” Rob Thomson said. “We didn’t chase as much. But Snell was really good again. We just have to keep grinding — those guys will get it going.”

And it was only a matter of time before Los Angeles’ lineup broke through.

With just 72 pitches, Luzardo returned for the seventh. Teoscar Hernández, who’s been unconscious this postseason, lined a leadoff single. Then Freddie Freeman did what Freddie Freeman does — lacing a double down the right-field line to move Hernández to third.

Rob Thomson made the walk to get his starter.

“I mean, he retired 17 in a row,” Thomson said. “He had 72 pitches and was pitching great. You’d be asking me why I took him out [before the seventh] if I did.”

Orion Kerkering entered in a tough situation — second and third, no outs. He struck out the first batter he faced, but a broken-bat Enrique Hernández grounder brought home a run. Then Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pressed the right button again.

Will Smith came off the bench and delivered a two-run single. Shohei Ohtani followed with an RBI knock off Matt Strahm to make it 4–0 Dodgers.

Two of the runs were charged to Luzardo, who left to a standing ovation from over 45,000 fans. His line — six-plus innings, three hits, five strikeouts — hardly tells the story.

“He was really fantastic,” Thomson said. “He was about 70 percent strikes. The slider was good, the changeup was good, the fastball had life. He battled and then just rolled from there.”

Bryce Harper liked what he saw from the southpaw, as well.  “Yeah, I thought he did a good job mixing it up on both sides of the plate,” Harper said. “He’s been like that for us all year long — threw the ball really well tonight. We just didn’t get it done for him.”

In the end, his outing will be remembered only as the one that got away.

The Phillies scraped together a run in the eighth and two in the ninth but couldn’t complete the comeback, falling 4-3 and heading to Los Angeles down 0-2 in the series.

“I thought we fought like hell in the eighth and ninth,” Thomson said. “Hopefully that carries over. Our backs are against the wall, and we’ve got to come out fighting.”

Luzardo expressed that same mindset. “Obviously you never want to go down 0–2,” he said. “But this is a really resilient and scrappy team. We’ve got a lot of faith in everybody in this clubhouse. Wednesday’s a new game, and we just have to go out and take it inning by inning.”

Without run support, even the best pitching performances can vanish. Luzardo deserved better — and now, the Phillies need answers fast.

The New York Rangers have sent Brett Berard down to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League. 

This means that for all intents and purposes, Noah Laba will make the Rangers’ opening-night roster. 

Berard was a standout at training camp for the Rangers last year, and it wasn’t long before he made his way up to the NHL. 

The 23-year-old forward played 35 games for the Rangers during the 2024-25 campaign. He recorded six goals, four assists, and ten points while averaging 10:43 minutes. 

Similar to last year, Berard was one of the last players sent down by the Rangers before the end of training. 

Despite not necessarily playing badly, there simply weren’t an abundance of spots for Berard to grasp onto, and it appears as if the Rangers’ brass felt it was best for him to start the year in the AHL. 

Now, Berard will likely play a top-line role in Hartford and will be one of the top offensive threats for the Wolf Pack to open up the 2025-26 season.

You may have been surprised if you heard Laba would have cracked the Rangers’ opening-night roster a few weeks ago, but it’s not a surprise anymore. 

Laba’s play was the biggest storyline of training camp and deservingly so as he continued to turn heads around the Rangers organization. 

The Rangers selected Laba in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL Draft and he joined the Wolf Pack after signing an entry-level contract with the Blueshirts in March. 

Rangers Sign Conor Sheary To A One-Year, Two-Way Contract The New York Rangers have signed Conor Sheary to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal is worth the league minimum.

The 22-year-old forward played three seasons at Colorado College before signing with the Rangers, and the wide expectation is that he would continue his development path in the AHL. 

However, Laba exceeded expectations throughout training camp and the preseason until he made it impossible for the Rangers to send him down. 

In six preseason games, Laba tallied two goals, four assists, and six points.  

He’ll likely play on New York’s third line alongside Conor Sheary and Taylor Raddysh for the Rangers’ opening-night game on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Former Rangers assistant manager Gary McAllister has said "never say never" on the possibility of a return to Ibrox with Steven Gerrard.

McAllister assisted manager Gerrard at Ibrox between 2018 and 2021, when they joined Aston Villa. The move south came a few months after Rangers won the Scottish Premiership.

When asked about Gerrard perhaps going back to Rangers, McAllister told Sky Sports: "We had a wonderful time there. We really enjoyed our time there. Steven did an amazing job to get that 55th title.

"He's always going to be linked with Glasgow Rangers, he loved his time up there.

"You never know what can happen."

When pressed on whether he would accept an invitation to return with Gerrard, McAllister replied: "You never say never, do you?"

Former manager Bob Melvin reveals he has ‘no regrets' over his Giants tenure originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

In his first public comments since his firing last Monday, former Giants manager Bob Melvin said he has “no regrets” over his tenure with the club.

Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Shayna Rubin, Melvin said he relished the chance to manage in the Bay Area for a second time, despite the disappointing results.

“It didn’t end the way I wanted it to, but I have no regrets and I wouldn’t do it any differently,” Melvin told Rubin. “I got to manage the [Oakland] A’s and Giants in one lifetime. Being from where I was, an enormous Bay Area sports fan, this is more than I could even imagine.”

The Giants hired Melvin, who was born in Palo Alto and grew up in Menlo Park, in October of 2023. His two-year run as manager ended with a 161-163 record and no MLB playoff appearances.

For Melvin, the 2025 MLB season was especially difficult to navigate. After a strong start, San Francisco traded for Boston Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers on June 15 but began piling up losses shortly after. The low point came when the Giants dropped 15 of 16 games at Oracle Park in August, and the team finished 81-81.

“The organization, players, fans, were so excited about how [the Devers trade] could take us to the next level, and I was in agreement,” Melvin told Rubin. “Then for us to start losing in the fashion we did, and losing at home, was particularly hard — maybe the hardest stretch I’ve ever gone through managing.”

Melvin also responded to president of baseball operations Buster Posey’s statement in the wake of the firing, which called the Giants’ finish “disappointing and frustrating,” by pointing out the team’s lack of bullpen options after a series of trade-deadline deals.

“It sounds as if the last months were the most indictable, but I don’t necessarily agree with that. Because the last two months started with a sell-off,” Melvin told Rubin, referencing traded relief pitchers Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers. “When you lose your pitching — the bullpen was the strongest variable of the team…you aren’t the pitching and defense team, we needed to slug. And we did for a while the last two months. When that slowed down, the pitching and defense couldn’t support it.”

It all resulted in the Giants’ fourth straight season without a postseason berth, a streak the team is hoping will end with its next managerial hire.

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Following two largely uncompetitive losses to the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Division Series, the Yankees have their backs against the wall.

But with the series turning back to the Bronx for Tuesday’s Game 3, manager Aaron Boone explained that it’s important to take things one game, one inning, one pitch at a time, and he’s confident that lefty Carlos Rodon can help his club stave off elimination.

“A ton,” Boone responded when asked about how much confidence he has in Rodon, who won a career-best 18 games this season. “He’s been obviously one of our horses this year. He’s had a great year, and every time we give him the ball we feel like we have an excellent chance to win, and that will be the same [on Tuesday].

“He’ll be ready to roll and then hopefully get us off to a good start.”

As good as Rodon has been this season, though, October baseball has been a different beast for the 32-year-old. Just as SNY contributor Anthony McCarron pointed out following the Game 2 loss, Rodon owns a career postseason 6.15 ERA, a notable uptick from his 3.09 regular season ERA.

Rodon also has to deal with a red-hot Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has six hits in nine at-bats this series, including Game 2’s backbreaking fourth-inning grand slam.

Guerrero also has great lifetime numbers against Rodon (10 hits in 17 at-bats, four extra-base hits, five RBI).

“Obviously, he’s a guy who hits the ball incredibly hard, has a good idea of the strike zone, has power when he gets into that mode too a little bit,” Boone said. “Obviously, he’s hit a couple of balls out of the ballpark, but also shown his bat-to-ball skills where he can kind of spray it around the yard too. He’s certainly hurt us so far and hopefully we can contain that a little bit [Tuesday].”

The Yankees are no strangers to facing elimination. They trailed Boston by a game in the best-of-three Wild Card Series before winning two straight. The Blue Jays have looked nearly unbeatable, scoring 23 runs on 29 hits while allowed just eight Yankees’ runs over the first two games, but Boone’s message to the team is to take things one pitch at a time, and to collectively do their best to avoid the emotional ebbs and flows of October baseball.

“The challenge is always trying to stay off that roller coaster as best you can, and you’ve got to be able to do that as a player,” Boone said. “We’re human, you feel things, it sucks when you lose and it’s exciting when you win and you try to absorb that, but you’ve got to keep moving.

“That next play, that next pitch, that next game becomes the most important thing, and that’s where you’ve got to keep your focus.”

The skipper added later: “I think one of the learned skills, acquired or born with, whatever, is you’ve got to be able to withstand success and failure over the long haul if you’re going to have a career in this, a sustained career in this. And that’s a challenge and that’s sometimes hard, and that’s what the really good ones are good at.”

Thomson: Phillies must ‘command the zone' vs. Snell in Game 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Last year, the Phils were in the same spot.

In Game 1 of the 2024 NLDS, they fell to the Mets, 6–2, zapping the energy out of Citizens Bank Park.

And their Game 1 struggles repeated in Saturday’s loss to the Dodgers.

Down 1–0 last postseason, the Phillies clawed back against New York, making lineup changes and stringing together timely at-bats before Nick Castellanos walked them off, 7–6, to even the series.

So how do you bounce back tonight against two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell?

The lineup shakes up

With the lefty on the mound, Rob Thomson’s lineup has a different look:

1. SS Trea Turner
2. DH Kyle Schwarber
3. 1B Bryce Harper
4. 3B Alec Bohm
5. C J.T. Realmuto
6. RF Nick Castellanos
7. 2B Edmundo Sosa
8. CF Brandon Marsh
9. LF Otto Kemp

Naturally, with Harrison Bader out due to a groin injury, the Phillies had to shuffle the outfield. Rookie Otto Kemp makes his postseason debut in left — a spot he played just 63 innings in during his first big league season.

“It’s obviously not Otto’s natural position,” Thomson said pregame. “But he’s really improved. His routes were off a little bit early, but him and Paco [Figueroa] did a lot of work, and he runs better than people think. He’s improved tremendously.”

Defensively, Kemp will be tested. The Dodgers — who have five right-handed hitters in the lineup — enter with one of baseball’s highest pull rates (45.2%), and with no Bader available, Thomson could be quick to turn to Max Kepler late if matchups call for it.

Offensively, the move fits. Kemp slugged .462 against lefties this season and posted a .786 OPS. He did strike out twice in three at-bats against Snell earlier this year, but Thomson liked his swing decisions more than Weston Wilson. “I just like Kemp’s at-bats a little better,” Thomson said.

Brandon Marsh slides over to center, a familiar spot where he’s logged 84 games this season. And Edmundo Sosa, who has feasted on left-handers (.318/.362/.593), gets the start at second. Sosa is 3-for-8 lifetime against Snell and could be an early spark plug for a Phillies lineup searching for a rhythm.

Snell’s recent dominance vs. Phils

Phillies fans remember Snell’s last outing against them — a 12-strikeout, two-hit masterpiece at Dodger Stadium just three weeks ago. It was easily one of the most dominant pitching performances they faced all season long.

He was unpredictable, throwing only 38 percent of his pitches in the strike zone but still generating a 44 percent whiff rate. The fastball appeared sparingly — just 34 percent usage — and when it did show up, hitters rarely squared it up. Instead, his changeup and slider did the heavy lifting, forcing weak contact and chase swings.

Snell got six whiffs on just 10 sliders that night, and his curveball wasn’t far behind, generating a 56 percent whiff rate. But his changeup was his true weapon — the pitch that kept Philadelphia off balance. It induced soft contact with an average exit velocity of just 80.6 mph, and the Phillies chased half of his 22 changeups outside the strike zone.

As Thomson said before the game, “You’ve got to command the strike zone, because he’s going to get you to go out of it and chase. You’ve got to really hone him in and get his pitch count up.”

The approach

To beat Blake Snell, the Phillies have to hunt the fastball. Opponents hit .309 off the pitch this season — a massive jump from last year’s .201 mark. The difference, particularly for right-handed hitters, has been stark as the average jumps to .329 in those matchups.

With a righty-heavy lineup, the Phillies will try to work themselves into fastball counts and capitalize. But they’ll also have to resist expanding.

“Snell likes to induce a lot of chase,” Thomson said. “You’ve got to be aware of what’s going on.”

Finding that balance — being aggressive early without expanding the zone — will be the key. The top of the order needs to set the tone, because once Snell settles in, he rarely gives in.

The Dodgers’ bullpen could also play a pivotal role again. Even with Snell’s recent length, his last outing being seven innings,  Dave Roberts showed in Game 1 that he’s willing to use starters like Tyler Glasnow in relief — so Emmett Sheehan and Clayton Kershaw could get their name called.

The bottom line

The Phillies need a win and a strong outing from Jesús Luzardo, but their biggest adjustment must come at the plate.

Last year, they found a way to respond after a Game 1 loss. If they’re going to even the series tonight, they’ll need to make Blake Snell throw strikes — and punish him when he does.