The Philadelphia Phillies' comeback bid fell short on Monday night as the Los Angeles Dodgers escaped with a 4-3 win to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five National League Division Series.
Jesus Luzardo, who started for the Phillies, gave his team everything he had for six innings, leaving without having allowed a run on three hits, though two runners he left on base came around to score.
Manager Rob Thomson gave his starter credit for the gutsy performance that kept the Phillies within striking distance.
“Dynamite,” Thomson said, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Seventy percent strikes. He was getting ahead. He was attacking. The slider was really good. The change-up was good. Fastball had a lot of life. Battling a little bit of a jam in the first inning, and then he rolled from there. He was fantastic.”
His teammate, Bryce Harper, who has yet to get going through two playoff games, backed up his teammate.
“I thought he threw great,” he added. “He’s been like that for us all year long. I thought he threw the ball really well, we just didn’t get it done for him.”
The Dodgers eventually scored four runs in the seventh inning as relievers Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm couldn't stop the bleeding in time. Philly rallied for a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth before falling short.
The Phillies turn to Aaron Nola to save their season
With the Phillies needing to win three in a row against the Dodgers and the first two coming in Los Angeles, veteran Aaron Nola will get the ball in Game 3.
The former All-Star has had a miserable 2025 season, but he could erase all of that with a great performance on Wednesday.
“I’m going to go out and compete as best as I can, and try to put the guys in a good position to win a baseball game,” he said, per MLB.com. “Obviously, we’re 0-2 right now, so going into L.A., we’ve obviously got to get a win and just take it inning by inning and pitch by pitch.”
Nola went 5-10 with a 6.01 ERA this season, which also included extended time on the injured list with a strained rib cage. He provided some hope in his final outing of the regular season, however, going eight innings and allowing one run on two hits with nine strikeouts against the Minnesota Twins.
