The Los Angeles Dodgers were unable to close out the National League Division Series on Wednesday as they fell 8-2 to the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead into the fourth inning before Kyle Schwarber evened the score with a towering home run off Yoshinobu Yamamoto that was hit out of Dodger Stadium.
The Phillies would score two more runs in the frame to take a decided lead. Yamamoto wound up completing just the four innings, which required the Dodgers to tap into their bullpen earlier than expected.
Anthony Banda and Jack Dreyer each completed a scoreless inning of relief before Clayton Kershaw struggled in his first appearance of the postseason. The left-hander allowed five runs (four earned) in two innings of work.
Blake Treinen then got through a perfect ninth inning in what was a bounce-back performance from his outing in Game 2 of the NLDS.
After using five pitchers in their loss to the Phillies, the Dodgers now turn to Tyler Glasnow for his first start of the playoffs on Thursday.
The right-hander hasn’t started since his final appearance of the regular season against the Seattle Mariners on Sept. 27, but he did throw 1.2 scoreless innings of relief against the Phillies in Game 1 of the NLDS.
“I think he’s full-go,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Glasnow ahead of his Game 4 start. “It was nice to get him in there in Philly, but as far as kind of his buildup, I think it’s just a normal start.
“But we’ll just kind of read and react and see how he’s throwing the baseball.”
Glasnow had a strong finish to the regular season and the Dodgers feel confident sending him to the mound in another elimination game against the Phillies.
“It’s pretty close to being flushed already,” Roberts answered when asked when the Dodgers would move on from their Game 3 loss. “If you look back going into this series and said we’d be up 2-1, we would have banked it with Glas going in.
“I feel good with where we’re at. Would have loved to get Duran in the game tonight. I feel good where we’re at. And it’s certainly flushed.”
Clayton Kershaw confident in Tyler Glasnow
Kershaw also believes the Dodgers are in a favorable position with Glasnow starting and is not concerned that the Phillies gained some momentum after their offensive barrage in Game 3.
“No, not really. Your momentum is only as good as your next day’s starter, right?” Kershaw asked. “We’ve got Glas going and we feel good about it. Still got a 2-1 lead, so we’re in a good spot.”
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