Dodgers-Phillies Game 3 takeaways: Kyle Schwarber powers up as Phillies stay alive

LOS ANGELES — The Philadelphia Phillies deftly deployed an unconventional pitching plan, asking their longest-tenured starter to act as an opener, and rode a resurgent offensive attack Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium to keep this National League Division Series alive with an 8-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez combined to permit one run in seven innings. Kyle Schwarber took a majestic swing in the fourth inning, launching a ball almost out of the stadium, and the Phillies could breathe again. They tacked on five much-needed runs in the eighth inning against future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw. That’s when, for the first time in this series, the Phillies could relax.

There will be a Game 4. The Dodgers hold a 2-1 lead in the series and will send their No. 4 starter, Tyler Glasnow, to the mound. The Phillies will counter with their best, Cristopher Sánchez.

It’s a series again.

Aaron Nola was at his best, then Ranger Suarez cruised

Nola’s first pitch of the day, a 95.1 mph fastball to Shohei Ohtani, was the fastest he’d thrown since July 11, 2024. He bested it two pitches later, reaching 95.3. It seemed curious to start Nola, who produced a 5.84 ERA in eight starts after returning from the injured list Aug. 17, over lefty Ranger Suarez. But the veteran delivered, retiring seven of eight batters he faced across two innings.

Aaron Nola unleashed some impressive velocity early and helped set an early tone for the Phillies. (Luke Hales / Getty Images)

Though Nola was dealing, the Phillies opted to pull him after two innings. Tommy Edman, who led off the third, was 1-for-20 in his career against Nola, including the postseason. He homered on Suarez’s first pitch, a 92.8 mph fastball. Suarez settled in, handling the Dodgers’ top lefties — Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman — and staying poised with traffic on the bases. Perhaps his best pitch of the night was an 0-1 slider to Max Muncy in the sixth, eliciting a double play to end the inning after giving up two straight hits.

The Dodgers shut down the Phillies’ stars this series … until they didn’t

The most telling stat of this series’ first two games is largely what Schwarber and Bryce Harper didn’t do. The Dodgers had been aggressive in the strike zone with each hitter, daring them to hit and finding success doing it. A similar script was playing out in Game 3. Los Angeles had already jumped out in front. The Phillies had yet to hit a home run in the series.

Schwarber and Harper were a combined 1-for-15 with eight strikeouts when Schwarber led off the fourth inning against Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

That’s when things changed. Yamamoto missed with a fastball off the plate, then with a splitter below the zone. Down 2-0 in the count, Yamamoto tried a letter-high fastball to Schwarber. The slugger connected, sending one into orbit an estimated 455 feet from home plate. Harper followed with a single to expand what would become a three-run fourth inning and an abbreviated night for Yamamoto. At four-plus innings, it was Yamamoto’s shortest outing since June 1.

Phillies’ offense builds some momentum

The Phillies showed something Wednesday, scoring their most runs in a postseason game since Game 2 of the 2023 NLCS (10). But the group initially struggled to supplement the lead. Brandon Marsh struck out swinging with the bases loaded with two outs in the fifth. Two runners reached with no outs in the seventh, but no one scored.

Then came the eighth. After two-plus games of struggling to build momentum and produce in big spots, the Phillies’ offense found some catharsis with five runs and lots of traffic on the bases. J.T. Realmuto took the second pitch he saw from Kershaw deep to left, and things kept rolling from there. Schwarber, who drove in two of the runs, extended his record for most all-time left-on-left postseason homers (four). The offense looked much more like the group that finished the regular season fourth in the majors in OPS (.759), dominating opponents and conjuring late-inning magic.