Dodgers Recap: LA survives Shaky 9th to Gain Stranglehold on Series

PHILADELPHIA — Wow! I guess we shouldn’t be surprised by now, but we had a classic 2025 Dodgers win in this one. The starter shoved, the offense showed up (albeit a little late), and the Dodgers hung on for dear life for the final few outs of the ballgame. Still, it was a 4-3 win for Los Angeles, and the Dodgers take a commanding 2-0 lead in this best-of-five series.

The game got off to a promising start in the first, when both Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez got on base against Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo in the top of the first. However, Freddie Freeman flew out to right and Tommy Edman grounded to second to extinguish the threat.

Meanwhile, LA starter Blake Snell started off looking very impressive. Other than his customary walks (four of them), Snell was about as close to unhittable as a pitcher can be. He tore through the Phillies’ best hitters, holding their vaunted batting order to no runs on one hit over 6.0 innings. He was spectacular.

Unfortunately, Snell’s brilliance was matched by Luzardo. The Dodgers were retired in order in five straight innings, and looked every bit as good as his counterpart. However, after Snell walked a couple of guys in the sixth, the Dodgers managed to wriggle out of it when Miguel Rojas made a diving tag of third base to force out Trea Turner. That set up the hinge inning: the top of the seventh.

Teoscar Hernández started the charge, lining a single into center. Freddie Freeman followed, scorching a double to right that sent Teoscar tearing around to third. Two on, none out, and the crowd was suddenly nervous, and Luzardo was in deep trouble.

The Phillies made a mound visit, trying to calm their lefty, but it didn’t help much. That was it for Luzardo. Orion Kerkering jogged in from the bullpen, and got a strikeout of Tommy Edman for the first out. That brought up Enrique Hernández. He chopped one toward short, Trea Turner’s throw was a little wide and a bang-bang play at home went to review. The call on the field stood—Teoscar scored on the fielder’s choice, and the Dodgers were on the board, 1–0.

That brought up pinch-hitter Max Muncy, batting for Miguel Rojas. Muncy showed patience, drawing a walk to load the bases. And wouldn’t you know it, Will Smith dug in at the plate. Due to Smith starting the game on the bench, he was hitting in the nine-hole in this one, a move that proved most fortuitous. Smith didn’t waste any time—lining a two-run single to left on the first pitch he saw. Freeman and Kiké crossed the plate as Dodger blue poured out of the dugout to celebrate a 3–0 lead.

Another mound visit. Another change. Matt Strahm took over for Kerkering. It didn’t matter. Shohei Ohtani ripped a sharp grounder past first and into right, bringing home Muncy and sending Smith to third. The crowd rained boos on the Phillies as Ohtani stood on first, grinning. 4–0 Dodgers. Four runs, four hits, a statement inning to quiet the Bank.

Then, Blake Snell came out, and once again the bullpen didn’t cover themselves in glory. Emmet Sheehan had a quick and efficient seventh, but ran into a bit of trouble in the eighth, giving up a run on a triple and a single. With lefties Schwarber and Harper coming up, it looked like Dave Roberts might call for a southpaw out of the pen, but he stuck with Sheehan, and he came through, retiring both hitters and sending the game into the ninth.

Johan Duran shut down the Dodgers in the top of the inning, which sent the game into the final half inning with the Dodgers still up by three. However, things were anything but easy after that. Blake Treinen (and not Roki Sasaki) came in, tasked with getting the final three outs. He was not up to the job. A single from Alec Bohm, a double from JT Realmuto, a bad-ball double from Nick Castellanos and suddenly it was 4-3 with the tying run on second. Nobody out. Yikes.

That was it for Blake Treinen. Alex Vesia was next out of the pen. Bryson Stott tried to sacrifice the runner to third, but a slick (and game-saving) play from Max Muncy and Mookie Betts cut down Castellanos. However, pinch hitter Harrison Bader came through with a single off the bench, and once again, the tying run was in scoring position. Kepler grounded into a force out, Freeman to Betts, and the Dodgers needed just one more out.

With batting champ Trea Turner stepping to the plate, the Bank was rocking. It was Roki Time (actually it was Roki time about ten minutes earlier, but what can you do?). The outing was a short one. Sasaki’s first pitch was a ball, but on his second offering (a four-seamer on the inside part of the plate), Turner got jammed a bit and hit a grounder to the right side. Edman fielded what looked like a routine play, but then spiked his throw to first, forcing Freddie Freeman to use that Gold Glove of his to make the scoop and end the game.

Off Day on Tuesday, series resumes in LA on Wednesday with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound for hopefully a very long time.

No words, but I’ll put together a few: Snell–brilliant. Offense–good enough. Bullpen–Yeesh.

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