The Philadelphia Phillies are facing elimination in the National League Division Series after a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2. The defeat, which took place at Citizens Bank Park on Monday night, puts the Phillies behind 2-0 in the best-of-five series.
Teams that have won the first two games on the road in this playoff format have historically advanced 88.9 percent of the time, with only two teams failing to do so out of eighteen instances. The last team to come back from such a deficit was the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays.
Trea Turner commented on the team’s situation: “We’ve got nothing to lose now. It’s not over. As much as people like to say that it’s not over, we’re not going to quit until they tell us to go home. We’ve got a great team. We’ve won three games in a row before. We’ve swept good teams. We’ve played good baseball. We’ve got to find that. We’ve got to find it quick.”
Kyle Schwarber added, “Make that flight back home into Philly — because we’re going to be coming back at some point — make it worth something.”
Reflecting on missed opportunities and offensive struggles, Bryce Harper said, “Just got to flip the script.”
Game 2 saw both starting pitchers—Blake Snell for Los Angeles and Jesús Luzardo for Philadelphia—hold their opponents scoreless through six innings. In the seventh inning, however, Luzardo gave up hits leading to four runs by the Dodgers.
Fans at Citizens Bank Park expressed frustration as their team fell behind; many booed as Los Angeles built its lead and as Philadelphia struggled offensively.
Nick Castellanos discussed the atmosphere: “I think the stadium is alive on both sides, right? When the game is going good, it’s wind at our back. But when the game is not going good, it’s wind in our face. So the environment can be with us and the environment can be against us.”
In a late rally attempt during the ninth inning, Alec Bohm singled and J.T. Realmuto doubled before Castellanos drove them both in with another hit. Bryson Stott then attempted a bunt but was thrown out at third base due to a well-executed defensive play by Los Angeles.
Stott remarked on that play: “They couldn’t have run it any better.”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson explained his decision-making: “Trying to tie the score… I liked where our bullpen was as compared to theirs. We play for the tie at home… Mookie [Betts] did a great job of disguising the wheel play. We teach our guys that if you see the wheel, just pull it back and slash because you’ve got all kinds of room in the middle. But Mookie broke so late that it was tough for Stotty to pick it up.”
The Phillies’ final chance came down to Turner with runners on base; he grounded out for the last out of Game 2.
Turner described his approach: “I was trying to stay up the middle on the heater… I wish I would’ve tried to pull the ball, but I was trying to stay up the middle because I know his split is really good obviously. It just had enough on it and got in on me.”
Looking ahead, Schwarber said: “Obviously everyone’s going to be upset, right? We lost the game. We’re never happy when we lose. We’ve got to be able to digest this… It’s a one-game task. We’ve got one game, right? And it’s time to go. Go from there.”
Philadelphia must now win three consecutive games against Los Angeles—two of them away—to avoid elimination and keep their season alive.
