The Philadelphia Phillies are in a tough NLDS battle with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they’ve had to fight for their lives at every turn. The Phillies were down 2-0 in the series and facing elimination, but they made a statement in Game 3 at Dodger Stadium, winning 8-2 on Kyle Schwarber’s explosive power. This kept their hopes of winning the championship alive.

Schwarber played like a superstar on Wednesday night. The designated hitter hit two home runs, one of which was a tape-measure blast that went 455 feet and landed on top of the right-field pavilion. “Schwarber is going to send one way out of here.” How far will it go? “Oh my goodness,” captured how big his huge shot was. The performance was especially important because he had been having a hard time lately. The first home run was his first hit since September 24th, ending a streak of 0-for-22. Schwarber now has 23 career playoff home runs, which puts him behind only Manny Ramirez and José Altuve on the all-time postseason list.

Trevor Plouffe, a former veteran of the Phillies, praised the team’s toughness but also gave them a reality check on JM Ball on Wednesday.“The Phillies they are alive. They’re still alive,” Plouffe saw this and knew how important it was to force a Game 4. But he lowered expectations about momentum, which kept them going. “The Dodgers are just such a good team that I don’t think you can just have momentum and ride it,” Plouffe warned. “I think they’ve got to score nine runs a game, which is tough to do. It puts a lot of pressure back on you.”

The Phillies’ best three hitters, Trea Turner, Schwarber, and Bryce Harper, went from a terrible 2-for-22 start in the first two games to a great 7-for-13 in Game 3. “It was a great offensive night. We needed to see that. We really needed to see that, especially out of the top of the order,” Plouffe noted. “They were aggressive on the base paths, caused some pressure on the Dodgers’ defense and led to some runs. Harper going first to third there, right in Ohtani’s face was good, set up some more runs there.” The aggressive style made the kind of fake offense that playoff baseball needs.

The Dodgers still have the upper hand in the series, even after Wednesday’s offensive explosion and strong pitching from Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez. Cristopher Sanchez will pitch for Philadelphia on Thursday against Tyler Glasnow as the team tries to keep its season going.

Phillies Force Game 4 with Offensive Explosion

The win was like a wake-up call for the Philadelphia Phillies team, which had been sleeping at the worst possible time. Their bats, which had been quiet for a while, came to life in a big way on Wednesday night, winning 8-2 and proving that the Phillies weren’t ready to give up on their championship hopes just yet.

In the fourth inning, Schwarber hit a baseball so hard that it went 455 feet and almost out of the stadium. In the Statcast era, this was his fifth home run in the playoffs that went over 450 feet. No other player has more than two. That swing seemed to light a fire under the whole lineup, reminding everyone what this offense can do when it’s at its best. Schwarber hit another home run in the eighth inning, making it his second multi-homer playoff game.

“It was a great offensive night. We needed to see that. We really needed to see that, especially out of the top of the order, and they kind of did everything right,” Plouffe emphasized, highlighting the collective breakthrough.

Manager Rob Thomson took a risk by taking Aaron Nola out of the game after just two scoreless innings and putting in Ranger Suarez. When Suarez gave up a home run to Tommy Edman right away, it looked like the decision had backfired. But the Phillies calmed down, chased Yoshinobu Yamamoto after four innings, and got another chance to play.