Kyle SchwarberHe homered twice, his first towering shot clearing right field flanker in a three-run fourth inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies avoided a sweep with an 8-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of their NL Division Series on Wednesday night.
It was the first Schwarbomb of the postseason forThe NL’s leading hitterAnd the first the Dodgers have allowed in these playoffs. Schwarber snapped an 0-for-8 skid in the NLDS, hitting a 96 mph fastball off Yoshinobu Yamamoto to 455 feet.
Schwarber became only the second player to homer over the wing, joining Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell, who did so in 1969 and 1973. Fans standing near the back railing signaled for the ball to go out.
Game 4 of the best-of-five series will be played Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
After Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola pitched the first two innings, goaltender Suarez came in and allowed one run and five hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked one.
The Phillies got five more runs in the eighth — including a solo shot by JT Realmuto and a two-run drive by Schwarber — off three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw in his first postseason relief appearance since 2019.
Six of the Phillies’ 12 hits came from Kershaw in his 18th and final season with the Dodgers before he retired at the end of the season.
Yamamoto retired nine of his first 10 batters before the Phillies jumped on him in the fourth inning. Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm followed with singles and Harper scored on center fielder Andy Pages’ throwing error. He jumped off third baseman Max Muncy and into the Dodgers’ dugout, moving Bohm to third. He scored on Brandon Marsh’s sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead.
The Phillies chased down Yamamoto with back-to-back singles by Bryson Stott and Trea Turner in the fifth.
Reliever Anthony Banda came on and worked out a bases-loaded jam. He struck out Schwarber after a double steal by Stott and Turner. Harper flied out and Bohm was intentionally walked before Banda got Marsh on a swinging strikeout to end the threat.
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead on Tommy Edman’s first-pitch homer by Suarez leading off third.
The Dodgers had the potential to tie the game at first and second in the sixth inning but Max Muncy grounded out into a double play at the end of the inning.
Kershaw allowed three runners in the seventh but none scored. Sandy Koufax, another 89-year-old Dodgers great, was on his feet clapping as Kershaw ran to the mound.
Dodgers outfielders Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman were a combined 0-for-8 with three hits. Mookie Betts tripled and singled on four hits.