Blake Snell shines on mound and
Dodgers hold off Phillies 4-3 for 2-0 lead in NLDS
[October 07, 2025]
By DAN GELSTON
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Blake Snell had yielded to the Los Angeles
Dodgers' bullpen after a masterful start and was just a bystander
when the Philadelphia Phillies — without any help from their
All-Star trio at the top of the batting order — finally mustered a
rally in the ninth inning.
A leadoff single. A two-run double. A headfirst slide — safe!
Phillies bats and a previously silenced crowd both finally rising to
the occasion and their feet.
Through all the drama, Snell's confidence in the playoff-tested
Dodgers never wavered.
“We know we're going to win,” the pitcher said.
Snell allowed one hit in six shutout innings, striking out nine, and
the Dodgers made a couple of clutch defensive plays to barely turn
back Philadelphia's late rally Monday night for a 4-3 victory in
Game 2 of their NL Division Series.
Freddie Freeman made a game-saving pick at first base and Shohei
Ohtani delivered an RBI single that helped the Dodgers take a 2-0
lead in the best-of-five playoff. The defending World Series champs
can reach their 17th National League Championship Series with a Game
3 win Wednesday in Los Angeles.

“That was a heck of a ballgame. Lots to unpack in that one,” Dodgers
manager Dave Roberts said after his team improved to 4-0 this
postseason. “Great ballgame, great plays. Huge win.”
Will Smith had a two-run single in a four-run seventh, and the
Dodgers took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
That's when the Phillies finally mounted a major threat.
Nick Castellanos slid headfirst into second base, narrowly eluding a
tag, for a two-run double off Blake Treinen that at last sent the
Philadelphia crowd of more than 45,000 into a frenzy and made it a
4-3 game.
Alex Vesia came in to face Bryson Stott, who tried to advance
Castellanos with a bunt. But third baseman Max Muncy wheeled and
threw to shortstop Mookie Betts sprinting over to cover the bag in
time to tag out Castellanos.
“Those guys executed it to perfection. It was a lot tougher — they
made it look a lot easier than it was,” Roberts said. “And for me,
that was our only chance, really, to win that game in that moment.”
Pinch-hitter Harrison Bader singled and Max Kepler grounded into a
fielder's choice that left runners at the corners with two outs.
Roki Sasaki entered and retired NL batting champion Trea Turner on a
groundout to second for the rookie's second career save — both in
this series. Freeman went to his knees to pick Tommy Edman's poor
throw on his backhand, keeping his right toe on the bag before
rolling over onto his back with the ball in his mitt.
“Obviously, Tommy threw one into the dirt. Thankfully I was able to
catch it and stay on the base,” Freeman said. “That was a stressful
inning.”

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Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Blake Snell throws during the
first inning in Game 2 of baseball's National League Division Series
against the Philadelphia Phillies, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, in
Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he will likely
hold a team meeting once the team gets to Los Angeles.
“I love the fight in the eighth and ninth inning,” he said. “They
fought like hell, and hopefully that carries over into Wednesday.
But this is a resilient group. Our backs are against the wall. We’ve
just got to come out fighting.”
Kepler flashed some of that late spirit when he tripled in the
eighth and scored on Turner's single to trim it to 4-1.
A two-time Cy Young Award winner, Snell was sensational in holding
the Phillies to another mostly punchless effort in the playoffs.
Turner, NL home run champion Kyle Schwarber and two-time NL MVP
Bryce Harper went a combined 1 for 10 with five strikeouts.
On the 15-year anniversary of Phillies ace Roy Halladay’s playoff
no-hitter against the Reds, Snell had one going until Edmundo Sosa’s
two-out single in the fifth.
Snell, who walked four and threw 99 pitches, was tangled in a duel
with Jesús Luzardo until the seventh.
Luzardo threw 24 pitches in the first before the left-hander settled
down and retired 17 straight Dodgers until Game 1 star Teoscar
Hernández singled leading off the inning. Freeman doubled and that
was all for Luzardo.
After reliever Orion Kerkering got a strikeout, Kiké Hernández hit a
slow roller to shortstop and Turner rushed an off-target throw home
that allowed Teoscar Hernández to score with an excellent slide.
Smith lined a two-run single for a 3-0 lead and Ohtani — who struck
out four times in the opener and again leading off Game 2 — ripped a
run-scoring single off left-handed reliever Matt Strahm for his
first hit of the series.

The NL West champion Dodgers, who used the injured list this season
37 times for 2,585 days, according to Major League Baseball, are
finally mostly healthy and need to win just once in two potential
home games to clinch the series. Teams taking a 2-0 lead in a
best-of-five postseason series have won 80 of 90 times, including 54
sweeps.
The NL East champion Phillies were 1 for 18 with nine strikeouts
through six innings.
“We missed some pitches over the plate,” Harper said. “Haven't done
a very good job with guys on base. Just need to be better.”
Up next
The Dodgers send RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the mound in Game 3.
Yamamoto struck out a postseason-high nine while pitching into the
seventh inning in the Wild Card Series clincher against Cincinnati.
Aaron Nola starts for the Phillies.
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