LOS ANGELES — Displaying resilience after a pair of challenging defeats at their home field, the Phillies seized control in the NLDS, overcoming Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and successfully containing a formidable batting order in an 8-2 victory during Wednesday night’s Game 3.
The decisive runs materialized in the fourth inning, subsequent to three uncomplicated frames for Yamamoto. Kyle Schwarber signaled the Phillies’ resurgence with a tremendous 455-foot home run that sailed beyond the right-field pavilion in Dodger Stadium. Subsequently, the offensive onslaught continued unabated.
Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh each contributed with additional runs batted in, contributing to Yamamoto’s most abbreviated start since July 7. Prior to the game, the right-handed pitcher had not conceded a solitary earned run in his preceding three starts and had avoided allowing multiple runs in his past six appearances, but the Phillies appeared to decipher his intricate array of pitches relatively quickly.
“The batting order ignited,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson remarked following the game.
The primary challenge: Yamamoto’s splitter, typically recognized as one of baseball’s premier pitches, becoming notably ineffective. He delivered 12 splitters. Of the eight that landed outside the strike zone, the Phillies swung at only one. Of the four that remained inside the zone, the Phillies swung at all four. Of their five total swings, none resulted in whiffs on a pitch that boasted an exceptional 42% whiff rate during the regular season.
Considering the extent to which Yamamoto’s approach hinges on the vertical interplay between his four-seam fastball and splitter, the loss of that weapon proved detrimental against a seasoned lineup. Yamamoto addressed a question regarding his splitter by emphasizing the potency of his other pitches, but the outcomes offered a contrasting perspective.
“Generally, my repertoire wasn’t particularly deficient, not necessarily atrocious,” Yamamoto commented after the game. “Because I was endeavoring to employ my entire arsenal. And indeed my fastball, four-seam, was effective. And thus I was endeavoring to depend on the other pitches, but it didn’t prove successful.”
Further runs materialized in the eighth inning, effectively sealing the game at the expense of Clayton Kershaw, who made his 2025 postseason debut and surrendered five earned runs in two innings, encompassing a second Schwarber home run.
That breakdown ultimately proved advantageous for the Phillies, who had been prepared to utilize closer Jhoan Duran for a potential two-inning save. Rather than being compelled to deploy their premier reliever in all three games, they were able to conserve the flame-thrower and conclude Game 3 with the remainder of their bullpen.
The bullpen strategy arose following a start that yielded favorable results when considering the combined performance of Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez. The Phillies unexpectedly designated Nola, who had accumulated a 6.01 ERA this season, to commence the game, but he essentially fulfilled the role of an opener, pitching two scoreless innings and navigating through the majority of the Dodgers’ lineup.
Subsequent to Nola, Suárez entered the game and dominated for five innings — with the exception of a home run yielded to his initial batter, Tommy Edman.
“They executed virtually precisely what we intended,” Thomson stated. “We sought to utilize those individuals to advance as closely as possible to Duran in order to conserve some of the bullpen for tomorrow if desired.
“Nola performed exceptionally well. The intention was to progress through the lineup once, and Ranger was assigned to [Shohei] Ohtani. It culminated with Edman leading off the third. He has a 1-for-20 record with nine strikeouts against Ranger, and he launched the first pitch out of the ballpark. Indeed, they executed flawlessly.”
Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday at 6:08 p.m. ET, with Tyler Glasnow and Cristopher Sánchez taking the mound.
