Philadelphia – Blake Snell stuck out nine over six shutout innings of one-hit ball for the Dodgers before relievers Alex Vesia and Roki Sasaki thwarted Philadelphia’s ninth-inning rally, sending Los Angeles to a 4-3 victory over the Phillies in Game 2 of their NL Division Series on Monday night.

Shohei Ohtani delivered an RBI single for his first hit of the series in a four-run seventh, and the Dodgers took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Former Tiger Nick Castellanos slid headfirst into second base, barely eluding a tag, for a two-run double off Blake Treinen that at last sent the Philadelphia crowd into a frenzy and made it a 4-3 game.

Vesia came in to face Bryson Stott, who tried to advance Castellanos with a bunt. But third baseman Max Muncy wheeled and threw to shortstop Mookie Betts sprinting over to cover the bag in time to get Castellanos.

Pinch-hitter Harrison Bader singled and Max Kepler grounded into a fielder’s choice that left runners at the corners with two outs.

Sasaki entered and retired NL batting champion Trea Turner on a groundout to second for his second save of the series. Freddie Freeman made a game-saving play at first base, going to his knees to pick Tommy Edman’s poor throw on his backhand while keeping his right toe on the bag before rolling over onto his back with the ball.

The World Series champion Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series and can advance to their 17th National League Championship Series with a Game 3 win Wednesday night back home in Los Angeles.

A two-time Cy Young Award winner, Snell was sensational against another punchless effort from the Phillies in the playoffs. Turner, NL home run champion Kyle Schwarber and two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper went a combined 1 for 10 with with five strikeouts.

On the 15-year anniversary of Phillies’ ace Roy Halladay’s playoff no-hitter against the Reds, Snell had one going until Edmundo Sosa’s two-out single in the fifth.

Snell – who walked four – was tangled in a pitchers’ duel with Jesús Luzardo until the decisive seventh.

Luzardo threw 24 pitches in the first before the left-hander settled down and retired 17 straight Dodgers until Game 1 star Teoscar Hernández singled to lead off the inning. Freeman doubled and that was all for Luzardo.

After Orion Kerkering got a strikeout, Kiké Hernández hit a slow infield roller to shortstop Trea Turner who rushed an off-target throw home that allowed Hernandez to score. Will Smith lined a two-run single for the 3-0 lead and Ohtani – who struck out four times in the opener and again leading off Game 2 – ripped a run-scoring single off left-handed reliever Matt Strahm.

The Dodgers, who used the injured list this season 37 times for 2,585 days, according to Major League Baseball, are finally mostly healthy and need to win just once in two home games to clinch the series. Teams taking a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five postseason series have won 80 of 90 times, including 54 sweeps.

The NL East champion Phillies were used to flailing at Snell.

Snell, who missed four months of his first season in Los Angeles with shoulder inflammation, struck out a season-high 12 over seven innings in a September start against the Phillies. The Phillies in the Game 2 starting lineup who had faced Snell hit only a combined .152 lifetime against him.

Snell worked out of his only jam in the sixth when he issued consecutive one-out walks to finally get a rise out of more than 45,000 that had been nervously subdued most of the game. Snell got Harper, the NLDS career home run leader with 11, to swing hard on strike three and Alec Bohm ended the threat with a chopper to third that snuffed the energy out of the ballpark.

The punchless Phillies were 1 for 18 with nine strikeouts through six.

Brewers take 2-0 lead in NLDS

Milwaukee – Andrew Vaughn and Jackson Chourio each hit a three-run homer, William Contreras added a solo shot and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 7-3 on Monday night to move one win from a trip to the National League Championship Series.

The Brewers have a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-five Division Series, which shifts to Wrigley Field in Chicago for Game 3 on Wednesday. Teams taking a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five postseason series have won 80 of 90 times, including 54 sweeps.

Milwaukee is attempting to win a postseason series for the first time since 2018, when it reached Game 7 of the NLCS.

Vaughn and Chourio hit the first two three-run homers in Brewers postseason history. Contreras’ solo shot in the third inning broke a 3-all tie.

Chicago slugger Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run homer of his own – a 440-foot shot to left-center in the first inning against Aaron Ashby. After coming out of the bullpen in 42 of his 43 regular-season appearances, Ashby served as an opener in this one.

But the Cubs didn’t score again. Nick Mears, Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, Jared Koenig, Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe combined for 7 1/3 innings of shutout relief in which they allowed just one hit.

Misiorowski came on in the third and threw three scoreless innings to earn the win while hitting at least 100 mph on 31 of his 57 pitches. Each of the rookie’s first eight pitches went at least 102.6 mph, and he topped out at 104.3.

While Misiorowski was sizzling, Chicago’s Shota Imanaga was fizzling.

Twice in the first three innings, Imanaga retired the first two batters before running into trouble that resulted in a homer. Imanaga has allowed multiple homers in six of his last eight appearances.

Vaughn tied the game in the bottom of the first with a drive over the left-field wall after Contreras and Christian Yelich delivered two-out singles. According to MLB, this was the first playoff game in which each team hit a three-run homer in the first inning.

Contreras then hit a 411-foot shot to left with two outs in the third.

Vaughn’s first-inning drive marked the first time the Brewers had ever hit a three-run homer or a grand slam in the postseason. They got their second just three innings later, when Chourio connected on his 419-foot shot off Daniel Palencia.

Chourio was back in the leadoff spot after tightness in his right hamstring caused him to leave in the second inning of Milwaukee’s 9-3 Game 1 victory on Saturday. Chourio went 3 for 3 with three RBIs in Game 1 before his exit, making him the first player to have three hits in the first two innings of a postseason game.

Yankees dig deep hole in ALDS

New York – The Bellinger babies are among the few Yankees fans not stressed about New York’s 0-2 deficit to Toronto in their AL Division Series.

Caiden is 3 years old and sister Cy is 2.

“They were at the game yesterday, and they said that it was very loud,” dad Cody recalled Monday. “That’s about all they were aware of.”

New York was blown out twice in Toronto, 10-1 and 13-7, as the Blue Jays scored the most runs of any team in its first two postseason games.

Teams taking a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five postseason series have won 80 of 90 times, including 54 sweeps. New York has accomplished the comeback twice, in 2001 led by Derek Jeter and his backhand flip to the plate in Game 3 against Oakland, and in 2017 vs. Cleveland. Among teams ahead 2-0 in the current 2-2-1 format, 31 of 34 have advanced.

“We approach it like we have really all season, but even more specifically, the last six, eight weeks where we feel like we’ve been playing with a lot on the line every single day,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ll go into our hitters’ meeting, and it’s about win today, period, and not getting ahead of that and even keeping it smaller than that. It’s about going up and trying to win every pitch. Keep it small. Keep it simple.”

Left-hander Carlos Rodón (18-9) starts Tuesday night at home for the Yankees in Game 3, and 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber goes for the Blue Jays. Rodón allowed three runs over six-plus innings for a no-decision in a Game 2 Wild Card Series win over Boston last week, wasting 2-0 and 3-2 leads. He was removed after throwing eight straight balls starting the seventh.

While Rodón was 10th in the AL with 203 strikeouts, Blue Jays batters whiffed 1,099 times this season, just three above the major league-low total of Kansas City.

“They force action. They put the ball in play,” Rodón said. “There’s times where you need a strikeout, and just the miss isn’t there.”

Bieber returned Aug. 22 following Tommy John surgery in April 2024, and the 30-year-old right-hander went 4-2 with a 3.57 ERA in seven starts, the last on Sept. 26. In a limited sample size, right-handers hit .297 against him and lefties .156.

He pitched a postseason game at Yankee Stadium once before, a no-decision for Cleveland in the 2022 AL Division Series when he allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings, on Giancarlo Stanton’s two-run, first-inning homer into the right-field short porch.

“It’s a fun place, a fun environment, if you embrace it,” Bieber said. “Thankfully I’ve had that experience prior to Tuesday. I think it’s all about just keeping perspective. What an incredible opportunity it is for me personally and then this team, as well.”

Seeking to reach the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2016, Toronto will be wearing white-panel caps, a style used regularly from the team’s inception in 1977 through 1993, when the Blue Jays won their second straight World Series title. The retro model had been used occasionally with the modern bird logo since 2015, including during a Major League Baseball Hall of Fame weekend promotion from July 25-27, when the Blue Jays took two of three at Detroit to finish a four-game series.

At the suggestion of reliever Jeff Hoffman, the Blue Jays switched to the retro caps on Sept. 25 after losing six of seven and dropping into a tie with the Yankees for the AL East lead. Toronto beat Boston 6-1 with the white-front caps and has worn them every game since, except for a Friday contest with Nike Connect uniforms. The Blue Jays are 5-0 in the retro caps since the switch.

“I didn’t pack another hat,” manager John Schneider said.

ESPN sets viewership records

ESPN set viewership records during baseball’s Wild Card Series, fueled by a significant spike in watchers from young demographics.

The network announced Monday that Game 3 of the Boston-New York Yankees series averaged 7,439,000 viewers – a single-game Wild Card Series record under the current format. It was the largest audience for an ESPN baseball game since Boston met the Yankees in a one-game MLB Wild Card playoff in 2021.

The network averaged 4,625,000 viewers for the 11 games, a new high for the current format. Overall viewership for the under-35 demographic jumped 89% from last year and 108% for kids 17 and under. Total viewership for the Wild Card Series was up 64% from last year.

Dodgers lead in days lost to injured list

New York – The Los Angeles Dodgers led the major leagues for the third straight year in days on the injured list, including stints for eight of their 11 pitchers in the NL Division Series, while the Detroit Tigers had the biggest increase and the San Francisco Giants the biggest drop.

The defending World Series champion Dodgers used the IL 37 times for 2,585 days, according to Major League Baseball. They led last year with 2,219 days and in 2023 with 2,465 after finishing with the sixth-highest total in 2022.

Dodgers with lengthy IL stays this year included pitchers Brusdar Graterol, Michael Grove, Kyle Hurt, River Ryan and Gavin Stone (195 days each), Evan Phillips (178), Tony Gonsolin (159), Michael Kopech (156), Roki Sasaki (137), Blake Snell (121), Edgardo Henriquez and Blake Treinen (102 apiece), Emmet Sheehan (92), Tyler Glasnow (72) and Clayton Kershaw (60).

Los Angeles pitchers on the Division Series roster who had IL stints included Glasnow (right shoulder inflammation), Kershaw (foot and knee surgery), Sasaki (right shoulder impingement), Sheehan (right elbow surgery), Snell (left shoulder inflammation) and Treinen (right forearm tightness). They were joined by Tanner Scott (31 days for left elbow inflammation) and Alex Vesia (17 days for right oblique strain).

The only currently active Los Angeles pitchers not on the IL this year are Anthony Banda, Jack Dreyer and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

In early July, the Dodgers had 12 pitchers on the IL.

Houston was second with 2,310 IL days, followed by the New York Mets (2,279), Baltimore (2,123) and Boston (2,064).

Detroit had the biggest increase in IL days from 2024, rising by 1,087 to 1,811. The Mets increased by 921 to 2,279, the Orioles by 887 to 2,123 and Toronto by 855 to 1,508.

Just four teams had fewer than 1,000 IL days: Philadelphia (442), St. Louis (513), San Francisco (749) and Minnesota (898).

The biggest drops were by San Francisco (falling 908 to 749), the Twins (by 721) Cardinals (by 678), Phillies (by 581) and Texas (by 513).

Philadelphia had the fewest IL placements with 16, and St. Louis and Seattle had 18 apiece.

Overall, MLB totaled 826 placements and 44,372 days, up from 784 placements and 43,253 days in 2024 but down from 8

Playoffs scheduleALDS

TORONTO VS. NEW YORK

(Toronto leads 2-0)

Saturday: Toronto, 10-1

Sunday: Toronto, 13-7

Tuesday: at New York, 8:08

x-Wednesday: at New York, 7:08

x-Friday: at Toronto, 8:08

SEATTLE VS. DETROIT

(Series tied 1-1)

Saturday: Detroit, 3-2 (11)

Sunday: Seattle, 3-2

Tuesday: at Detroit, 4:08

Wednesday: at Detroit, 3:08

x-Friday: at Seattle, 4:40

NLDS

MILWAUKEE VS. CHICAGO

(Milwaukee leads 2-0)

Saturday: Milwaukee, 9-3

Monday: Milwaukee, 7-3

Wednesday: at Chicago, 5:08

x-Thursday: at Chicago, TBA

x-Saturday: at Milwaukee, 4:38

PHILADELPHIA VS. LOS ANGELES

(Los Angeles leads 2-0)

Saturday: Los Angeles, 5-3

Monday: Los Angeles, 4-3

Wednesday: at Los Angeles, 9:08

x-Thursday: at Los Angeles, 6:08

x-Saturday: at Philadelphia, 8:08

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