LOS ANGELES — Well before the Phillies fell into an 0-2 hole in this National League Division Series, a bunch of players went to team officials wondering if they could wear their powder blue uniforms on the road in the postseason. Major League Baseball approved it about a week ago. So, the Phillies stepped onto the field Tuesday for a workout looking different.

A fresh start, maybe. Everyone tried to act loose with the specter of elimination looming over everything. The visiting clubhouse attendants lit the same White Barn candles — mahogany teakwood intense — that brought the room back to life last month after the Phillies sprayed champagne and beer to celebrate a division title.

The team hopped on a charter flight Tuesday morning, then went straight to Dodger Stadium from Hollywood Burbank Airport.

“Played a lot of cards,” Bryce Harper said. “That was fun. Obviously, we didn’t think about the game or anything like that.”

If they’re going to go out, they will do it their way. So the longest-tenured player among this group, Aaron Nola, will start Game 3.

“Do-or-die playoff game, he’s the guy you want,” Phillies righty Taijuan Walker said. “No emotions. Still heartbeat. I think everyone in this locker room trusts him probably more than anyone. Just because he’s done it.”

It’s a curious gambit, given Nola endured the worst season of his career and Ranger Suárez is still waiting to be used in this series. Suárez is going to pitch on Wednesday night. It’s a matter of when.

“The numbers on their lefty (hitters) are very similar, Ranger versus Nola,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “And the trust factor — I have trust in both of them, don’t get me wrong. But Nola has pitched in some really big games for us in the last couple of years.”

Ranger Suárez, who has a 1.43 ERA over 10 postseason appearances (eight appearances) will pitch at some point in Game 3. (Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)

To be clear: The Phillies do not plan on Nola making a traditional start. It could be two or three innings. Maybe once through the batting order, then Suárez enters for Shohei Ohtani’s second at-bat. Maybe, if Nola is pitching well, he keeps going.

If anything, this arrangement could allow the Phillies to navigate the pitfalls of the sixth and seventh innings. All nine runs the Phillies have allowed in this series have come then, as they have struggled to find the right bullpen solution.

So, they’ll try two starters. The club’s ideal scenario is Nola and Suárez can combine for seven innings.

The Dodgers will counter by having Max Muncy in the lineup for the first time in this series. The Phillies have wondered if Nola starting would prompt Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to tweak the top of his lineup by having Freddie Freeman bat third instead of fourth. That could create a better pocket — Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freeman — for a lefty reliever later in the game.

Los Angeles could just stick with what carried it here.

Thomson cited Nola’s final start, an eight-inning gem against a hapless Minnesota Twins team eager to finish the season. Nola had a 5.84 ERA in eight starts in August and September after missing months with ankle and rib injuries. Only one of those starts came against a postseason team; Nola allowed six runs in five innings versus the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Dodgers, as a team, hit only .214 with a .387 slugging percentage against right-handed curveballs. Nola faced the Dodgers in April at Citizens Bank Park and held them to three runs in six innings. Suárez allowed three runs in six innings last month at Dodger Stadium.

“I’d regret having either one of those guys not pitch in this series,” Thomson said.

Bader’s status

Harrison Bader did some agility drills and light running in right field during Tuesday’s workout under the watchful eye of a half-dozen Phillies staff members. He is a “game-time decision” for Game 3, Thomson said.

The club is terming Bader’s injury as inflammation between his left hamstring and groin.

Silencing Harper and Schwarber

Bryce Harper walks back to the dugout after striking out in Game 2. (Eric Hartline / Imagn Images)

Harper and Kyle Schwarber are a combined 1-for-14 with eight strikeouts and two walks in two games. It’s two games. But, this time of year, that means a lot.

Betts and Freeman endured a similar failure in the 2023 NLDS when the Arizona Diamondbacks swept the Dodgers. They went 1-for-21.

“When you get in that rut, it seems like it’s quicksand,” Betts said. “No matter what you do, you just can’t get out of it. It’s tough. Hell, I didn’t get out of it. So I have no advice or anything. I mean, shoot, I would have if I knew what to do. Good luck to those guys, and we’ll see if they have the answer.”

Los Angeles has pitched Harper and Schwarber well.

“The main thing is we’ve attacked those guys,” Roberts said. “We haven’t been scared off using the fastball. I think we crowd them just enough. I think we go soft just enough. And I think we change eye level.

“So, up to this point, we’ve done a really nice job of keeping those guys at bay. We’ve still got some work to do and try to keep those guys asleep.”

Harper has seen only nine fastballs in 33 pitches this series. He has not put one in play. The average velocity of those fastballs was 98 mph. Schwarber has seen 15 fastballs in 38 pitches. The average velocity was 97.6 mph. He’s put two in play and struck out on another.

Harper joined teammates on the field Wednesday for some outdoor batting practice, a rarity for him.

“Their timing’s off a little bit right now,” Thomson said. “Trying to do a little too much. The swings are a little bit bigger. Gotta slow it down, turn the field around, think left-center. They’re still going to pull the ball at times. But just stay on the ball a little bit better.”