PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies quietly packed the equipment bags in front of their lockers on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Their season is on the brink. They know it. They suffered a crushing 4-3 loss to the Dodgers in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. Los Angeles holds a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, forcing the Phillies to pray for a miracle and save a season that started in February with World Series-or-bust expectations.
Teams to win Games 1 and 2 on the road in the current 2-2-1 Division Series format have won 16 of 18 series (88.9 percent), including 12 sweeps. The 2015 Blue Jays are the last team to do what the Phillies hope to do.
“We’ve got nothing to lose now,” Trea Turner said. “It’s not over. As much as people like to say that it’s not over, we’re not going to quit until they tell us to go home. We’ve got a great team. We’ve won three games in a row before. We’ve swept good teams. We’ve played good baseball. We’ve got to find that. We’ve got to find it quick.”
“Make that flight back home into Philly — because we’re going to be coming back at some point — make it worth something,” Kyle Schwarber said.
The Phillies will have time to think about why they are here when they fly to Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.
They haven’t hit enough.
They have missed too many opportunities.
“Just got to flip the script,” Bryce Harper said.
Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell and Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo matched each other through six innings in Game 2, then Luzardo allowed a leadoff single to Teoscar Hernández and a double to Freddie Freeman to start the seventh.
Freeman surprised Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos, who threw the ball to first base to put runners on second and third. Orion Kerkering entered. He got a strikeout, then he got the ground ball he wanted from Kiké Hernández. But Turner’s momentum carried him toward the first-base line. His throw just missed its mark.
The Dodgers scored the game’s first run. They scored three more runs in the inning to take a 4-0 lead.
An opposing coach once called his team’s 2022 postseason experience at Citizens Bank Park in 2022 “four hours of hell.” But that description feels like a faded memory at this point. The Phillies have lost five of their last six postseason games at home, beginning with losses in Games 6 and 7 in the 2023 NLCS against the Diamondbacks.
They lost Game 1 of the 2024 NLDS against the Mets.
They have lost the first two games of this series against the Dodgers.
Phillies fans showed up, like always. They tried to rattle the Dodgers and bring life to a listless offense. They roared when Edmundo Sosa broke up Snell’s no-hitter with a single to right-center field with two outs in the fifth.
But they booed as frustrations mounted.
“I think the stadium is alive on both sides, right?” Castellanos said. “When the game is going good, it’s wind at our back. But when the game is not going good, it’s wind in our face. So the environment can be with us and the environment can be against us.”
But then the Phillies found life. Trailing, 4-1, entering the bottom of the ninth, Alec Bohm singled to start the inning. J.T. Realmuto doubled to put runners on second and third. Castellanos dropped a ball down the left-field line to score both runners to cut the Dodgers’ lead to one.
Castellanos never stopped running. Somehow, he avoided the tag at second for a double.
“Just took a shot and it worked out,” he said.
Castellanos represented the potential tying run with no outs. Bryson Stott tried to drop a bunt up the third-base line, but the Dodgers perfectly executed the wheel play. They threw out Castellanos at third for the first out.
“They couldn’t have run it any better,” Stott said.
“Trying to tie the score,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said on the decision to bunt. “I liked where our bullpen was as compared to theirs. We play for the tie at home. … Mookie [Betts] did a great job of disguising the wheel play. We teach our guys that if you see the wheel, just pull it back and slash because you’ve got all kinds of room in the middle. But Mookie broke so late that it was tough for Stotty to pick it up.”
It was up to Turner. He hit a 1-0 fastball to the right of second base. Tommy Edman’s throw almost took Freeman off first base, but he held on long enough for the final out to end the game.
“I was trying to stay up the middle on the heater,” Turner said. “I was a tick late. It kind of ran in on me on the inside corner. I wish I would’ve tried to pull the ball, but I was trying to stay up the middle because I know his split is really good obviously. It just had enough on it and got in on me.”
So many moments like that have led to this. The Phillies’ season could end Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. Or Thursday.
Or maybe the Phillies fly home with something to play for on Saturday.
“Obviously everyone’s going to be upset, right?” Schwarber said. “We lost the game. We’re never happy when we lose. We’ve got to be able to digest this. … It’s a one-game task. We’ve got one game, right? And it’s time to go. Go from there.”
