LOS ANGELES — Kyle Schwarber homered twice, his first towering shot clearing the right-field pavilion in a three-run fourth inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies avoided a sweep with an 8-1 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 for the NL’s leading home run hitter and the first allowed by the Dodgers in these playoffs. Schwarber snapped an 0-for-8 skid in the NLDS, slugging a 96-mph fastball from Yoshinobu Yamamoto 455 feet.
“It’s ridiculous how far that ball went,” Phillies shortstop Trea Turner said. “Sometimes it’s hard to create your own momentum, and you’ve got to build off things like that. No better way than the ball leaving the stadium.”
Schwarber became just the second player to homer over the pavilion, joining Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell, who did it in 1969 and 1973. Fans standing near the back railing pointed as the ball went out.
“I didn’t even see where it landed,” Schwarber said. “I was looking in the dugout, trying to get the guys going.”
Schwarber’s 23 career postseason homers rank third all-time and are the most among left-handers.
Game 4 of the best-of-five series is Thursday at Dodger Stadium, with the Dodgers clinging to a 2-1 lead.
“It’s pretty close to being flushed already,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I feel good with where we’re at.”
After Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola pitched the first two innings, Ranger Suárez came in and allowed one run and five hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked one.
“Ranger did a fantastic job,” Schwarber said. “Kept everyone right there for us to eventually crack through and have a beginning.”
The Phillies tacked on five more runs in the eighth – including a solo shot by J.T. 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 off Kershaw in his 18th and final season with the Dodgers before retiring at season’s end.
“I was battling command,” Kershaw said. “It’s hard when you’re trying to throw strikes in the postseason to get people out.”
Yamamoto retired nine of his first 10 batters before the Phillies jumped on him in the fourth. Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm followed with singles and Harper scored on center fielder Andy Pages’ throwing error. It skipped away from third baseman Max Muncy and into the Dodgers dugout, moving Bohm to third. He scored on Brandon Marsh’s sacrifice fly to left for a 3-1 lead.
The Phillies chased Yamamoto with back-to-back singles by Bryson Stott and Turner in the fifth.
Reliever Anthony Banda came in and worked out of a bases-loaded jam. He struck out Schwarber after Stott and Turner’s double steal. Harper flied out and Bohm was intentionally walked before Banda got Marsh on a swinging strikeout to end the threat.
The Dodgers led 1-0 on Tommy Edman’s homer on the first pitch by Suárez leading off the third.
The Dodgers had the potential tying runs on first and second in the sixth but Max Muncy grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Kershaw allowed three runners in the seventh, but none scored. Another left-hander, 89-year-old Dodgers great Sandy Koufax, was on his feet applauding as Kershaw jogged to the mound.
Dodgers sluggers Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman were a combined 0 for 8 with three strikeouts. Mookie Betts tripled and singled in four at-bats.
LHP Cristopher Sánchez, who started Game 1 of the series, goes for the Phillies on Thursday against Dodgers RHP Tyler Glasnow, who pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief in Game 1.
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