Dodgers can't pull off NLDS sweep, shift focus to Game 4

LOS ANGELES -- Hours before Game 3 of the NL Division Series, in which the Dodgers had the chance to sweep the Phillies and end their season, several members of the team reflected on the importance of momentum in postseason series.

The Dodgers had just returned from a hostile Citizens Bank Park with two hard-fought wins and were looking to surge to the NL Championship Series with a win in front of their home crowd. But that did not come to pass, and an 8-2 loss at the hands of the Phillies on Wednesday night soured the good feelings.

Despite the deflating result, the Dodgers are keeping the series in perspective and shifting their focus to Game 4.

"The consensus of this interview feels like we’re eliminated," Mookie Betts said. "So I think we understand we’re still up 2-1. Obviously there’s still a lot of pressure on us. But pressure is a privilege. Go out and play."

Of the 19 teams to lose Games 1-2 of a Division Series at home under the current 2-2-1 format, the Phillies are the seventh to force a Game 4. Of the six teams that accomplished it previously, three (50%) also forced a winner-take-all Game 5, and two (33.3%) finished off the comeback in Game 5.

• Dodgers-Phillies NLDS Game 4 FAQ

In Game 3, the Dodger Stadium crowd that wanted to get loud had few reasons to reach its full volume as the Dodgers lost for the first time this postseason.

They had several factors working in their favor as they looked to punch their ticket to a consecutive NLCS berth. Their ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, was on the mound. Their offense had been clicking when the series began in Philadelphia. And after a tumultuous season from the 'pen, they have finally landed on Roki Sasaki as someone they trust in a save situation.

Instead, the Dodgers will look to move on quickly with another chance to clinch at home.

"It's pretty close to being flushed already," manager Dave Roberts said. "If you look back going into this series and said we'd be up 2-1, we would have banked it with [Tyler Glasnow] going in [Game 4]."

The Dodgers struck first after Tommy Edman took Ranger Suárez deep in the bottom of the third, but the lead lasted for only a half-inning. Yamamoto -- who had allowed three total earned runs across his previous six starts, including in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series -- was done in by a shaky fourth.

Yamamoto served up a monster of a moonshot to Kyle Schwarber to lead off the frame, then allowed another pair of runs as the Phillies seized control of the game. After giving up the three-spot in the fourth, Yamamoto allowed back-to-back singles to open the fifth, which ended his night. It was the first time the Dodgers did not get a quality start this postseason.

"If I could have minimized the damage in that inning," Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda, "I think maybe the result might have been a little bit different."

The Dodgers' bats were stifled by Suárez and the rest of the Phillies' 'pen from there, but it remained a two-run game until Clayton Kershaw came on in relief, bringing the Dodger Stadium crowd to its feet. He battled his command to pitch a scoreless seventh but fell apart in the eighth, allowing five runs (four earned), including Schwarber's second homer of the game.

The reason Kershaw went out for a second inning was likely because the Dodgers were down an arm in the bullpen. Roberts said postgame that Tanner Scott was away from the team for personal reasons. The only relievers L.A. did not use other than Scott were Sasaki, Alex Vesia and Emmet Sheehan, whom the team would not want to burn in a lopsided loss.

The Dodgers are still in a good position to end the Division Series at home, with Glasnow tabbed for his first postseason start as a Dodger in Game 4. L.A. was also able to stay away from its trusted high-leverage arms.

Then again, the Phillies have to be feeling much better about their position in the series after an emphatic win on the road. Sometimes, it doesn't take much for momentum to swing in the opposite direction.

"Your momentum's only as good as your next day's starter, right?" Kershaw said. "We got Glas going, we feel good about it and we'll be ready to go. We still got a 2-1 lead, so we're in a good spot."