To win their first World Series in 17 years, the Philadelphia Phillies will have to go through the reigning World Series champions.
The Phils learned their NLDS opponent late Wednesday night after the Los Angeles Dodgers polished off the Cincinnati Reds with an 8-4 win in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series.
Game 1 of the best-of-5 series will be Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. It will start at either 6:08 p.m. ET or 6:38 p.m., depending on which team wins Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees on Thursday.
All NLDS games will air on TBS, truTV and HBO Max.
It will be the first Phillies vs Dodgers series since Philadelphia trounced the Dodgers in the NLCS in five games in 2009. The Phillies averaged seven runs per game in that series and captured their second straight NL pennant.
To defeat the high-octane Dodgers, the Phillies will likely need to score near that pace again this year.
Pressure Mounts On Phillies Offense
The Dodgers and Phillies ranked Nos. 1-2 in the National League in OPS. Los Angeles led the NL in home runs (244), while the Phillies were fifth (212) in the Senior Circuit in that category. Kyle Schwarber led the NL in home runs (56), and Shohei Ohtani was second (55).
So it’s no stretch to say these are the two best offensive teams in the National League — and among the top-5 run-producing clubs in all of baseball.
Yet, the Phillies will have to find a way to score with the Dodgers offense, who is already on fire through two postseason games. Mookie Betts leads all playoff hitters in batting average (.667), Teoscar Hernandez and Ohtani each have two home runs and the Dodgers averaged nine runs per game in their two-game sweep of the Reds.
Plus, the Phillies will need to shake off the ghosts of recent-failed playoffs past. Last season they mustered just 12 runs in their four-game upset loss to the New York Mets, which came on the heels of their 30-run, seven-game output in their NLCS loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2023 — in which they scored just three runs over their final two games after taking a 3-2 series edge.
âYou hear people say, âItâs the same lineup. Itâs the same lineup,’â Phillies infielder Trea Turner said, according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic. âOur lineup was always good enough to win the World Series. Itâs always been good enough. We just havenât produced.â
Shohei Ohtani Will Start Game 1 For The Dodgers
Shohei Ohtani’s first MLB postseason start will come on the mound at Citizens Bank Park.
The Dodgers have carefully built up the ace two-way star with an eye on October. Yet, Ohtani has shown glimpses of the ace he has been historically, since he will carry a 16 2/3-inning streak of scoreless ball into Game 1.
The Phillies saw Ohtani on the mound at Dodger Stadium just two weeks ago and seemed incapable of solving him over five hitless innings. They did end up winning the game 9-6 by beating the suspect LA bullpen to the tune of nine runs on eight hits, including key homers by Max Kepler, Brandon Marsh and Rafael Marchán.
Cristopher Sanchez (13-5, 2.50 ERA) will get the ball for Philadelphia. He was 0-0 with a 5.68 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers and started opposite Ohtani on Sept. 16, throwing seven innings of four-run, seven-hit ball in a no-decision.
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