MLB playoffs 2025: The Phillies won a must-win game. Did the Dodgers lose one, too? United States of America
Phillies come to life and bash Dodgers to fight another day in NLDS
LOS ANGELES—Regardless of the outcome of this NLDS—whether the Los Angeles Dodgers maintain their dominance or the Philadelphia Phillies return to the playoffs—many will consider Kyle Schwarber’s 455-foot home run, which soared through the air and sailed over the right-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium, to be the turning point.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters after the game that the blast “woke everyone up and brought a lot of energy to the dugout.”
It was a tremendous home run, yes, it seemed to completely shake the Phillies off the malaise that had caused them to lose two games of the series so far. However, Schwarber hit a second, less impressive home run, and that one could have been just as significant as it could have been recorded on the scoreboard in Game 4.
For a team that entered the divisional round in Vegas as a World Series favorite and then jumped out to a 2-0 lead, with their best pitcher of the regular season on the mound for the third game, they are suddenly in a very uncomfortable position.
You almost always want to be 2-1 up in a five-game series, but consider the Dodgers’ situation. Their bullpen is still faltering; Clayton Kershaw became the latest reliever to lose confidence in a single game on Wednesday. They are starting Tyler Glasnow—whose career postseason ERA is 5.51—in the fourth game on Thursday against Phillies first-game starter Christopher Sanchez, who will be on normal rest.