Summary of the Dodgers 4-3 Phillies game (Oct. 6, 2025)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Blake Snell there was transferred to the bullpen of Los Angeles Dodgers after a masterful start and it was just a viewer when the Philadelphia Phillies finally achieved a tried of comeback in the ninth inning.

An opening single. A two-run double. A head sweep… and safe!

The Philadelphia bats and a previously silenced crowd finally woke up and rose to the occasion.

Through all the drama, Snell’s confidence in the playoff-tested Dodgers never wavered.

“We know we’re going to win,” the pitcher said.

Snell allowed one hit in six scoreless innings, striking out nine, and the Dodgers made a pair of crucial defensive plays to barely stop Philadelphia’s late comeback Monday night for a 4-3 victory in Game 2 of their National League Division Series.

Freddie Freeman made a saving play at first base and Shohei Ohtani hit an RBI single that helped the Dodgers take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. The defending World Series champions can reach their 17th National League Championship Series with a victory in Game 3 on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

“Luckily, I was able to catch it and stay on base,” Freeman said. “I told (my wife) Lauren after the game, ‘My gray hair here could reach my sideburns now.'”

Will Smith hit a two-run single in a four-run seventh inning, and the Dodgers took a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth.

That’s when the Phillies finally mounted a major threat.

Nick Castellanos slid into second base, barely missing the tag, for a two-run double off Blake Treinen that ultimately whipped the Philadelphia crowd of more than 45,000 into a frenzy and made it a 4-3 game.

Alex Vesia came in to face Bryson Stott, who tried to advance Castellanos with a touch. But third baseman Max Muncy turned and threw to shortstop Mookie Betts, who ran to cover the base in time to throw out Castellanos.

Pinch-hitter Harrison Bader singled and Max Kepler hit a fielder’s choice that left runners on the corners with two outs.

Roki Sasaki came in and retired NL batting champion Trea Turner with a grounder to second for the second save of his career — both in this series. Freeman knelt down to catch Tommy Edman’s bad throw with a flipped glove, keeping his right toe on the base before rolling onto his back with the ball.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he will likely have a team meeting once the team arrives in Los Angeles.

“I love the fight in the eighth and ninth innings,” he said. “They fought like crazy, and I hope that carries over into Wednesday. But this is a resilient group. Our backs are against the wall. We just have to go out and fight.”

Kepler showed some of that late spirit when he tripled in the eighth and scored on Turner’s single to cut the lead to 4-1.

Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, was sensational in holding the Phillies to another mostly weak playoff effort. NL batting champion Turner, NL home run champion Kyle Schwarber and two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper combined to go 1 for 10 with five strikeouts.

On the 15th anniversary of the Phillies star’s playoff no-hitter, Roy Halladayagainst the Cincinnati Reds, Snell had one going until Edmundo Sosa singled with two outs in the fifth.

Snell, who walked four and threw 99 pitches, was in a pitching duel with Jesús Luzardo until the seventh.

Peruvian Luzardo threw 24 pitches in the first before the left-hander settled in and retired 17 consecutive Dodgers until the star of the first game, Dominican Teoscar Hernández, singled to start the inning. Freeman hit a double and that was it for Luzardo.

After reliever Orion Kerkering struck out, Puerto Rican Kiké Hernández hit a slow grounder to shortstop and Turner rushed a wild throw to the plate that allowed Teoscar Hernandez score with an excellent slide.

Smith had a two-run single for a 3-0 lead and Ohtani — who struck out four times in the first game and again early in the second — hit an RBI single against left-handed reliever Matt Strahm for his first hit of the series.

The NL East champion Phillies were 1-for-18 with nine strikeouts in six innings.

“We missed some pitches over the plate,” Harper said. “We haven’t done a very good job with runners on base. We just need to be better.”