Philly Leader

The Philadelphia Phillies secured a 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, positioning themselves favorably for a potential World Series run. The win marked an improvement for the Phillies, who have won two of their last three games following six consecutive series losses since mid-July. A win in Wednesday's game would give the Phillies their first series victory since they swept the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park in early July.

"It would be nice to get a winning streak going," said Phillies left-hander Matt Strahm. "I’d feel a lot better about that. You know, this game is really hard. Just like at the beginning of the year, none of it matters unless we do what we need to do at the end."

Tuesday’s triumph also clinched a season-series victory over Los Angeles, ensuring home-field advantage through the National League Championship Series if both teams finish with identical regular-season records.

"That can be huge coming down the stretch," said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. "That’s a good thing. That’s a really good club over there."

Phillies' left-hander Cristopher Sánchez delivered his best performance since his career-first shutout against the Marlins on June 28, allowing one run over six-plus innings.

"They have a lot of good hitters, but all good hitters have their weak spots," Sánchez said through an interpreter. "That’s what we study for outings like this."

Kyle Schwarber contributed to the offense by hitting Clayton Kershaw’s 3-2 slider into center field for a fifth-inning single that scored a run and ended Kershaw's night on the mound.

"Kershaw is Kershaw," Schwarber remarked. "Hall of Famer. He’s been around a long time... Hitting the single there and getting a run home got things going."

The Phillies extended their lead with three more runs in the sixth inning before Sánchez allowed another run and put two runners on base in the seventh, prompting Thomson to bring in Strahm from the bullpen.

Strahm retired Nick Ahmed and Austin Barnes before facing Shohei Ohtani with two outs and runners on first and second. In similar fashion to their previous encounter on July 10 in Philadelphia, Strahm managed to get Ohtani out with strategic pitching.

"I trust J.T.," Strahm said regarding catcher J.T. Realmuto's pitch call during Ohtani's at-bat.

Strahm ultimately threw a slider away that led Ohtani to fly out to right field, ending the inning and preserving Philadelphia's lead.

Edmundo Sosa and Schwarber hit back-to-back homers in the ninth inning to secure the final scoreline.

Reflecting on recent performances, Schwarber noted: "I felt like the games that we’ve been playing have been pretty good recently... When we walk out, we expect to win... We’re going to take that result at the end of the day."