PHILADELPHIA — A pitchers’ duel between two of the most unhittable left-handers in the sport ended in a silencing of Red October, as the Los Angeles Dodgers held on for a 4-3 win Monday to push the Philadelphia Phillies to the brink of elimination in the National League Division Series. Starting pitchers Blake Snell and Jesús Luzardo traded zeroes for six innings before the defending champions’ unrelenting bats finally broke through, with Game 1 hero Teoscar Hernández scampering home on Kiké Hernández’s broken-bat grounder to push across the go-ahead run in what would be a four-run seventh inning. Down 4-1 entering the ninth, the Phillies rallied and got the tying run to third base before Trea Turner grounded out to end it. Now, the series shifts from a raucous Citizens Bank Park to Dodger Stadium for Game 3 on Thursday with Los Angeles one win away from a return trip to the NLCS.
Roberts puts his trust in Snell
Be it trust in his $182 million ace, fear of what mess could come out of his bullpen, or both, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stayed in his spot at the top step in the dugout. Blake Snell had twirled a gem through five innings before trouble found him in the sixth. He walked Trea Turner and, after Turner swiped second, walked Kyle Schwarber, too.
Blake Treinen got up and started throwing in the bullpen as Snell settled in to face Bryce Harper. Pitching coach Mark Prior came for a visit. Snell’s game plan against the two-time MVP was simple, relying on the off-speed pitches that had been unhittable all night long. Harper fouled off Snell’s fourth consecutive slider to bring the count to 1-2, then the lefty bounced a curveball before firing his fifth slider in six tries.
Harper waved right through it. Roberts didn’t budge, even as Snell fell behind in the count to Alec Bohm with a pair of fastballs. He threw a 2-0 changeup to Bohm, who pounded it into the dirt. Infielder Miguel Rojas broke into a full sprint and dove to get the third out at third base, giving Snell a sixth scoreless inning and maintaining the stalemate while the Dodgers staved off having to go to the bullpen.
Snell has said it often: He doesn’t like to be removed from his own jams. They are his mess to get out of. The two-time Cy Young Award winner did so at just the right time Monday, completing six shutout innings while striking out nine. Through two postseason starts, he’s allowed just two runs over 13 innings while striking out 18.
Too little, too late for Phillies offense
The crowd went wild in the fifth inning when Edmundo Sosa mustered a broken-bat single to center field. It was the Phillies’ first hit of the night. They didn’t reach second base until the sixth inning. It was a familiar flop from an offense that once ruled this ballpark in October.
They mounted a ninth-inning comeback against the shaky Los Angeles bullpen, but a critical moment derailed it. The Phillies, having already dipped into their bench, could not pinch run for Nick Castellanos (who was the tying run) on second base. Bryson Stott tried to bunt him over. The Dodgers cut down Castellanos with a sharp wheel play.
Stott still made it to third base later in the inning as the tying run, but the Phillies stranded him there.
For much of the game, there was no offensive noise.
Snell deftly avoided the middle of the strike zone and had the Phillies off balance all night. Their first 12 swings against offspeed pitches from Snell resulted in 12 whiffs.
All night, as Luzardo posted zero after zero, the packed crowd at Citizens Bank Park was just begging for any semblance of offense from the Phillies. The top of the lineup was quiet — again — until Turner and Schwarber drew consecutive walks in the sixth inning.
Last month, when the Phillies faced Snell at Dodger Stadium, they swung at 27 pitches out of the strike zone. Snell was in the zone more this time, especially earlier in Monday’s outing. He tried to coax the Phillies into expanding the strike zone as the game progressed. For the most part, they resisted. They drove Snell’s pitch count high despite mustering only that one hit in six innings. He walked four. It did not matter.
When the Phillies needed Harper the most, he chased sliders out of the zone. Turner, Schwarber and Harper went a combined 2-for-21 with four walks and 11 strikeouts in the first two games of this series.
Teoscar Hernández chooses the right time to hustle
No one has felt the highs and lows of this series quite like Hernández, whose defensive gaffe in the second inning of Game 1 exacerbated the Dodgers’ early deficit and whose bat lifted them to a 5-3 victory that night.
Hernández again found himself in the middle of the drama in Game 2. Luzardo was starting to settle into the game when Hernández hit a low dribbler back to the mound to lead off the fourth and jogged out of the box. Hernández didn’t pick up steam even when the ball trickled between Luzardo’s legs, giving the pitcher time to still record the out.
It was one of many outs in a stretch of 17 batters retired in a row by Luzardo, before Hernández, of all people, lined a two-strike changeup up the middle to lead off the seventh inning. Freddie Freeman followed with a hustle double.
Kiké Hernández broke his bat two hitters later. As the ball spun slowly toward shortstop Trea Turner, Teoscar Hernández broke toward the plate. This time, he reached a max speed of 29.1 feet per second, sliding into the back side of home plate before Turner’s throw reached catcher J.T. Realmuto. It took Hernández’s hustle to give the Dodgers their first lead of the night.
SCORELESS NO MORE
Teoscar Hernández scores on an infield grounder #NLDS pic.twitter.com/feTAOQDPtE
— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2025
Luzardo pitched the game of his life, and it wasn’t enough
The Phillies had action in the bullpen in the sixth inning, even as Luzardo had not permitted a base runner since the first inning. The 27-year-old lefty navigated a sweaty 24-pitch first inning, then pitched with precision. But he’s been prone to sudden implosions this season, so the Phillies were on alert.
Luzardo made it through the sixth, having retired 17 straight batters. The Phillies let him begin the seventh inning. Facing a lineup for a third time is a challenge during the season, let alone in October. Luzardo allowed a single on a 2-2 changeup, then a single on a 2-1 sweeper to right field that Nick Castellanos played into a double.
In a game with the slimmest of margins, that was enough. The first run scored on a 27-foot dribbler with Orion Kerkering on the mound. Two more scored on a Will Smith single.
Luzardo deserved better. He matched Snell in a pressure-packed environment. The Phillies have learned a great deal about the lefty this season; he emerged as a trustworthy force in the rotation, with different ways to attack hitters. But, at this rate, he might not pitch again until 2026.