In a must-win showdown under the lights at Dodger Stadium on October 8, 2025, the Philadelphia Phillies staved off elimination with an explosive 8-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Division Series. Trailing 2-1 in the best-of-five set, the Phillies unleashed their bats late, forcing a decisive Game 4 and keeping their postseason dreams alive in front of a charged crowd of 53,689. The game, which clocked in at a brisk 2 hours and 54 minutes, showcased Philadelphia’s resilience after dropping the first two games in South Philly.
The Dodgers struck first in the bottom of the third, grabbing a 1-0 lead when Tommy Edman crushed a leadoff homer on the first pitch from Phillies reliever Ranger Suárez, who had entered after starter Aaron Nola tossed two scoreless frames. But the momentum flipped dramatically in the top of the fourth. Kyle Schwarber, mired in an 0-for-8 skid to start the series, led off with a monster 455-foot solo shot off Yoshinobu Yamamoto—a towering blast that cleared the right-field pavilion and marked the first Dodgers playoff homer allowed this October. It was Schwarber’s first postseason dinger of 2025 and his 23rd career, tying him for third all-time among lefties. The Phillies weren’t done: Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm singled, and Harper raced home on a wild throwing error by Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages, whose relay skipped into the LA dugout, allowing Bohm to scoot to third. Brandon Marsh’s sacrifice fly to left plated Bohm, and just like that, it was 3-1 Philly.
The middle innings turned into a pitchers’ duel, with no runs crossing the plate through the sixth. Yamamoto, who had retired nine of his first 10 batters, wobbled in the fifth after Bryson Stott and Trea Turner singled to load the bases, but reliever Anthony Banda wriggled free with a slick double steal by the runners and back-to-back outs from Harper and Marsh. The Dodgers threatened to tie it in the bottom of the sixth, putting runners on first and second, only for Max Muncy to ground into an inning-ending double play that stranded the tying run.
Then came the deluge in the top of the eighth, where the Phillies tacked on five runs against Clayton Kershaw in his first postseason relief outing since 2019—and, poignantly, his final appearance before retirement. J.T. Realmuto opened the fireworks with a solo homer, and Schwarber followed with a two-run blast, his second of the night and part of a six-hit barrage off the veteran lefty. The other two runs came amid a flurry of knocks, ballooning the lead to 8-1. The Dodgers scratched out a lone run in the late innings to make it 8-2, but it was too little, too late, as Philadelphia’s bullpen slammed the door.
Schwarber was the undisputed hero, slashing his way to a 3-for-4 night with four RBIs and those two moonshots, snapping his slump and igniting the Philly faithful. “I didn’t even see where it landed. I was looking in the dugout, trying to get the guys going,” Schwarber said postgame. Trea Turner added a double steal and steady at-bats, while Harper, Bohm, Stott, and Marsh chipped in timely hits to build the early edge. On the hill, Nola set the tone with two clean innings before Suárez delivered a gem in relief: five innings, one run on five hits, four strikeouts, and just one walk. The Dodgers’ offense sputtered without its big guns—Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman combined for an 0-for-8 with three Ks—while Yamamoto took the loss after yielding three runs in 4.1 innings, and Kershaw absorbed the blown save chance by coughing up five in one frame. “I was battling command. It’s hard when you’re trying to throw strikes in the postseason to get people out,” Kershaw reflected.
Mookie Betts provided a spark for LA with a triple and a single, and Edman’s early homer showed flashes, but the Dodgers couldn’t capitalize on opportunities, stranding key runners throughout. Manager Dave Roberts remained stoic: “It’s pretty close to being flushed already. I feel good with where we’re at.”
With the series now knotted at 2-1, all eyes turn to Thursday’s Game 4, where Cristopher Sánchez takes the mound for the Phillies against Tyler Glasnow for the Dodgers. Philadelphia’s late thunder has them believing, but they’ll need more of that fire to punch their ticket to the NLCS. As Turner put it: “Sometimes it’s hard to create your own momentum, and you’ve got to build off things like that. No better way than the ball leaving the stadium.”
MLB on X (formerly Twitter): “Kyle Schwarber has hit 823 feet worth of home runs tonight 🔥 pic.twitter.com/MSYHQY218F / X”
Kyle Schwarber has hit 823 feet worth of home runs tonight 🔥 pic.twitter.com/MSYHQY218F
