The Philadelphia Phillies' 2025 World Series hopes are still alive after finally breaking through with a win in their National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After losing the first two games of the series at Citizens Bank Park, Trea Turner and the Phillies handed the Dodgers an 8-2 beating at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night. Philadelphia fed off its offense that went off in the eighth inning, where it scored five runs off the retiring Clayton Kershaw. Before that, the Phillies were precariously ahead by just a run.
The momentum is now on the side of the Phillies, and Turner and company will try to keep it going.
“Just go 1-0 on the day. You know, we obviously dug ourselves a little bit of a hole, but we're competitors. We don't want to go home. We want to keep fighting, and we're going to keep doing that. So today was a good momentum day for us, and we'll try to do it again tomorrow,” Turner said during a postgame interview with the MLB Network.
Turner also reveals what kind of mindset the Phillies had going into Game 3 amid the pressure of elimination.
“Just have fun. It's so cliché, and you hear it a million times, and it's easier said than done, but to enjoy it. I mean, this is the best time of the year, playing these games,” shared Turner, who played parts of two seasons with the Dodgers before signing an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Phillies in 2022.
“This is what we played the whole season for. This is what we grew up dreaming about, so have fun. Enjoy it. And sometimes you got to have a little success to get that ball rolling.”
Turner and the Phillies will look to extend the series against the Dodgers and force a winner-take-all Game 5, as Philadelphia sends Cristopher Sanchez to the mound this Thursday. Sanchez will get another crack at Los Angeles. He started for the Phillies in Game 1 of the series, giving up two earned runs on four hits with two walks issued to go along with eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings of a 5-3 loss at home.
