Dodgers lean on big inning to defeat Phillies and

PHILADELPHIA — It was quintessential October baseball.

Two beginning pitchers dominating two helpless lineups.

A low-scoring contest in which every stranded baserunner felt like a monumental missed alternative.

A nail-biting affair determined by one staff cashing in a uncommon scoring probability, and the other failing to do the same.

In the underside of the sixth inning in Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies had two aboard with one out, but got here up empty.

In the next half-inning, the Dodgers confronted the same state of affairs, but got here away with 4 runs.

That was the distinction in the Dodgers’ 4-3 victory at Citizens Bank Park, giving them a commanding 2-0 lead in a best-of-five sequence that will shift to Dodger Stadium for Game 3 on Wednesday.

For most of Monday night time, a crowd of 45,653 in South Philadelphia sat anxiously in anticipation, ready for the dam to break in an old style pitchers’ duel.

On one facet, Blake Snell was dotting his fastball up in the zone and to both components of the plate, giving the Phillies little to hit while setting them up to flail at his dominant arsenal of secondary weapons. Through 4 innings, he retired 12 of 14 batters with only two walks issued. He had gotten whiffs on each of the first 11 non-fastballs he threw. And not until there have been two outs in the fifth did he give up his first hit.

Opposite him, Jesús Luzardo was equally efficient. After stranding runners on the corners in a shaky first, the left-hander locked in and made the Dodgers look foolish with a barrage of sweepers and changeups that dipped below the zone. Where he needed 24 pitches in the first, he accomplished the next 5 on just 48 throws. In that time, he retired 17 in a row and let only two balls even depart the infield.

Finally, in the underside of the sixth, the narrative started to change.

The Phillies generated the sport’s first big alternative, after Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber walked in back-to-back at-bats against Snell with one out. It was the first time all night time their lineup had gotten a runner past first. And it occurred as two-time MVP Bryce Harper got here strolling to the plate.

Snell’s plan of assault against Harper was simple. His first pitch was a slider in the filth. His next was another one up in the zone Harper fouled off. Two more sliders adopted, with Harper fanning on the first and fouling off the next. Then, after one change-of-pace curveball was buried in entrance of the plate, Snell went back to the slider one more time. It darted below Harper’s swing for a strikeout. Citizens Bank Park groaned.

The inning ended a batter later, when Alec Bohm chased a 2-and-0 changeup and hit a groundball to third base. Miguel Rojas fielded it behind the bag, clocked the speedy Bohm racing toward first, and determined to go the short — albeit dangerous — approach instead, sprinting to third base and beating Turner to the bag with a headfirst slide.

That ended the inning. This time, pissed off boos rained down from the stands.

Minutes later, the Dodgers can be in entrance. Unlike the Phillies, they didn’t squander their one alternative for runs.

Teoscar Hernández led off the top of the seventh with a single. Freddie Freeman adopted with a line drive to weak-fielding Nick Castellanos (who was drawn into the Phillies’ lineup following an injury to Harrison Bader in Game 1) in proper, getting on his horse to leg out a hustle double.

That knocked Luzardo out of the sport. And in a transfer that would soon be second-guessed, Phillies supervisor Rob Thompson opted for right-handed reliever Orion Kerkering instead of dominant nearer Jhoan Duran.

Kerkering received one fast out, placing out Tommy Edman.

But then Kiké Hernández hit a cue-ball grounder to Turner at shortstop. After a slight hesitation, Teoscar Hernández broke for home laborious. As Turner fielded the ball and fired to the plate, Hernández chugged in with a feet-first slide. Catcher J.T. Realmuto’s tag was a split-second too late.

Teoscar Hernández celebrates after advancing to third on a double by Freddie Freeman in the seventh inning against the Phillies in Game 2 of the NLDS on Monday. Hernandez later scored the Dodgers’ first run.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers had opened the scoring — and would only keep including on.

With two outs in the inning, Will Smith (who, like in Game 1, entered as a mid-game alternative as he continues to work back from his fractured hand) hit a two-run single to left. Shohei Ohtani, who had been hitless in the sequence and 0 for 3 earlier in the night time, tacked on another with a groundball that received through the infield.

By the time the mud settled, the Dodgers had surged to a 4-0 lead.

They would need every bit of it.

Emmet Sheehan adopted Snell’s six-inning, one-hit, nine-strikeout gem with two innings of aid, retiring the facet in the seventh before limiting harm in the eighth, when he gave up one run after a Max Kepler triple and Turner RBI single but retired the facet on a strikeout of Schwarber and a flyball from Harper.

The real bother got here in the ninth, when the Dodgers turned to Blake Treinen — and not not too long ago ascendant bullpen ace Roki Sasaki — to close the sport.

Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki delivers in the ninth inning against the Phillies on Monday in Game 2 of the NLDS.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Treinen couldn’t, giving up a leadoff single and back-to-back doubles to J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos to deliver home two runs and put the tying runner at second.

Alex Vesia entered next and received two outs (one of them, a essential play from third baseman Max Muncy to area a bunt and throw out Castellanos at third as the lead runner). Then, Sasaki was finally summoned to face Turner with runners on the corners.

He induced a groundball to second baseman Tommy Edman. Edman spiked his throw to first, but Freeman picked it with a sprawling effort. And once again, the Phillies had failed to utterly money in on a scoring probability — leaving the Dodgers one win away from advancing to the NL Championship Series.