The Los Angeles Dodgers took a firm step towards the National League Championship Series by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 this Monday night in Game 2 of the Division Series. The victory, built on a dominant performance by Blake Snell and a seventh-inning rally, gave them a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out nine. The left-hander completely controlled an offense that looked disconnected: Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Trea Turner combined to hit just 1-for-10 with five strikeouts. The game remained scoreless until the seventh inning, when the Dodgers broke the tie. Teoscar Hernandez led off with a single, and Freddie Freeman doubled to put runners in scoring position. Kike Hernandez's slow-ball grounder opened the scoring after a defensive error by Turner at the plate. Then, Will Smith drove in two more runs with a single, and Shohei Ohtani added another with a single that extended the lead to 4-0.

A late rally that wasn't enough for Philadelphia

In the ninth inning, the Phillies woke up. Nick Castellanos hit a two-run double that energized the crowd and cut the lead to 4-3. However, the Dodgers bullpen—featuring Alex Vesia and Japanese Roki Sasaki—managed to stop the threat.

The decisive play came when Freddie Freeman made a spectacular catch on his knees at first base to seal the win.

“I was just trying to do everything I could to catch it. They're some of the toughest ones, the ones you don't know whether to attack or wait for,” Freeman explained after the victory.

With this result, the Dodgers can close out the series on Wednesday, when the action moves to Los Angeles for Game 3 at Dodger Stadium. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will open for the Californians, while Aaron Nola will do so for Philadelphia.