Phillies-Dodgers: Bullpen gives up lead as Philly drops Game 1; Harrison Bader injured; Jesus Luzardo starts Monday

Shohei Ohtani’s night is done … on the mound.

Ohtani threw 89 pitches over five innings. The Phillies got to him in the second inning, scoring three runs, but he held them off the scoreboard after that. He escaped some danger in the fifth, striking out Kyle Schwarber with two runners aboard.

The two-way star has had a much less effective night at the plate so far, with four strikeouts. Cristopher Sánchez punched him out three times, twice looking. In the sixth inning, Matt Strahm entered the game with zero outs and two runners on to face the lefty, and froze Ohtani on a fastball. Strahm then got Mookie Betts to fly out and was on the verge of wriggling out of the jam entirely, before Teoscar Hernandez crushed a three-run homer to give the Dodgers a 5-3 lead.

Dodgers third baseman Kiké Hernández is sometimes known as October Kiké for his many clutch playoff moments over the years.

He added another clip to the highlight reel at the expense of Cristopher Sánchez in the sixth, ripping a double to the left field corner that ended the shutout and Sánchez’s night. Hernández entered the NLDS with 36 career postseason RBIs, and he tacked on two more against Sánchez, sailing into second base representing the tying run.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson called in David Robertson from the bullpen to secure the final out of the inning. Robertson fell behind 3-0 to pinch-hitting Max Muncy, but battled back, ultimately inducing a soft ground ball that he tossed over to first.

Teoscar Hernández barely tried.

The Phillies were already threatening, with two on and nobody out in the second inning, when J.T. Realmuto hit a liner to the gap in right-center field. Hernández ran by the ball, not putting down his glove down. It rolled to the wall and was retrieved by center fielder Andy Pages, as Realmuto notched a two-run triple.

And so, the first notable defensive gaffe of the series goes to the Dodgers.

Dodgers leadoff hitter and likely NL MVP Ohtani saluted the TBS camera at home plate as he prepared for the first at-bat of the NLDS, against Phillies Cy Young Award candidate Christopher Sánchez. The boos were monumental.

Then Ohtani swung and missed a 95-mph fastball. Then he missed an 86-mph changeup.

He called timeout. He adjusted his arm guard.

Zack is back.

For the first time since Aug. 16, Zack Wheeler pulled on his Phillies uniform Saturday before Game 1 of the National League division series. Wheeler was announced with the team's reserves and stood on the first-base line during pregame introductions.

Predictably, Wheeler's appearance prompted a thunderous standing ovation in Citizens Bank Park.

When Harrison Bader takes batting practice on the field, usually his shirt will have a few inches cut off from the bottom. The Phillies center fielder is well-known as a “crop top” aficionado, but what he didn’t expect is that his teammates would join in.

In September, Garrett Stubbs designed a T-shirt with one of Bader’s catchphrases: “What a gift.” After he handed them out to his teammates, some of them opted to crop the bottom in Bader’s honor.

“I would never nudge another grown man to wear a crop-top like this,” Bader said. “But they did it on their own, which shows you that we're really kind of bonded here. …

Cleanup-hitting catcher Will Smith could return to the Dodgers' lineup before the end of the division series.

Smith, sidelined since Sept. 9 with a hairline fracture in his right (throwing) hand, said Saturday that he's "really close to 100%." But he wasn't in the Dodgers' Game 1 lineup, with Ben Rortvedt behind the plate for starter Shohei Ohtani.

If Smith was returning during the season, the Dodgers would send him on a minor-league assignment. They won't have that luxury in the postseason, leaving manager Dave Roberts to find what he described as a "jumping off point" to get him back on the field.

After Trea Turner strained his right hamstring on Sept. 7 in Miami, the most immediate question for the Phillies was whether he would be 100% by the playoffs.

Well?

"I think he's 100%," manager Rob Thomson said Saturday. "I really do. Now it's just him getting the adrenaline going."

Besides the absence of injured ace Zack Wheeler, the most striking difference between the 2025 playoff Phillies and the playoff Phillies of the past two seasons lies in centerfield. Silent bats from the stars and imploding bullpen pieces dominated the storyline of disappointment in 2023 and 2024, but the most consistent deficit on the roster was starting centerfielder Johan Rojas.

Rojas isn’t on the playoff roster this year. The black hole he created at the bottom of the batting order has been filled, and filled well, by Harrison Bader.

It was a monumental problem for manager Rob Thomson.

While Trea Turner rehabbed a hamstring strain for the final three weeks of the season, Harrison Bader assumed the leadoff spot in the Phillies’ batting order.

But now that Turner is back, Bader has slid all the way down to eighth in the lineup for Game 1 of the National League Division Series against Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers. But that’s not an indictment on how Bader has been playing. The Phillies’ center fielder had a .314 batting average and .822 OPS in September.

Instead, manager Rob Thomson wants Bader and Bryson Stott at the bottom of the lineup to help set the table for the top.

The Phillies just added another player to their roster ahead of Game 1 of the NLDS — of course, this little guy may have to sit this one out.

Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper and his wife Kayla announced on social media that they have welcomed their fourth child into the world, Hayes Three Harper.

“Decided to add more chaos to Red October,” Kayla wrote on social media.

Zack Wheeler is at Citizens Bank Park for Game 1 of the NLDS, Rob Thomson said.

Wheeler has been at the ballpark periodically since the discovery of a blood clot in August caused the team’s ace to miss the rest of the season. But Wheeler has yet to be seen by fans. Could this be the day?

It would not be a surprise if Wheeler is included in the pre-game festivities before the opener of the Phillies-Dodgers series just like Rhys Hoskins was in 2023 while on the injured list.

Joe Kaname and Mikio Mori are big Dodgers fans — so big they traveled from Hawaii and Japan, respectively, to see their team take on the Phillies in Game 1 of the NLDS.

The friends met at LAX and flew onto Philadelphia, arriving Saturday morning with their Shohei Ohtani jerseys packed.

Before the gates to Citizens Bank Park even opened, the pair walked around, snapping photos and marveling at the growing crowd. Were they intimidated at walking into a place with a rep for being chilly to opposing teams’ fans?

After days of holding off, the Phillies named a starting pitcher for Game 2 of the National League division series.

It will be Jesús Luzardo.

Luzardo will get the nod Monday night over Ranger Suárez, who will be available out of the bullpen in Game 1. Suárez remains in play to start Game 3 Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Garrett Stubbs isn’t on the Phillies' postseason roster but he’ll still be providing hits this October as the team’s Chief Vibes Officer helped curate the team’s victory playlist for a second-straight season.

The Armentani Brothers — three brothers from Northeast Philly — released their “Winners Win 2025 Mix” on Saturday morning before Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers. The DJs created a playlist for Stubbs and Co. last October but the Phillies won just one game before being bounced by the Mets.

Last season’s playlist marked the official retirement of “Dancing On My Own,” the team’s victory anthem during the 2022 and 2023 postseasons. The Phillies thought it was time for a new sound so Stubbs — the backup catcher with an aux cord — partnered with the Armentani Brothers to create a list of songs to play after wins.

The 2025 season had barely begun, but it already felt lost. Questions have followed the Phillies outfielder throughout his career about his ability to hit left-handed pitching. But in March and April, Marsh was struggling no matter who was on the mound.

In his first 17 games, Marsh had a .095 batting average and a .167 slugging percentage. When he hit the injured list at the end of April with a hamstring strain, he was in an 0-for-31 slide. It was the deepest slump of his career.

And it was weighing heavily on the typically easygoing outfielder.

On the eve of the 2022 World Series, the original Mr. October stood on the field in Houston and considered the possibility that someone new was laying claim to his title.

"I know Bryce Harper is a good player," Reggie Jackson said, "Mr. October" stitched in cursive on the back of his navy blue Astros cap, "and I think he’s moved himself up a notch. But it won’t matter if it stops. … You’ve got to finish."

Harper didn’t finish. Not then, and not since.

Citizens Bank Park is about to become a raucous Red Sea of Phillies partisans, but the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers may find the actual atmosphere familiar.

The weather Saturday in South Philly for Game 1 of the division series is going to be remarkably similar to that of Los Angeles’ Elysian Park neighborhood, home of Dodger Stadium, on Saturday — only a bit warmer around here.

Highs Saturday in Philly are forecast to approach 80 degrees, with virtually no chance of rain and temperatures in the mid-70s at game time.

Shohei Ohtani is going to make a bit of history when he takes the mound tonight against the Phillies.

When Ohtani takes the mount, he'll become the first MLB player to both pitch and serve as a team's designated hitter in the postseason.

Plenty of pitchers in the National League have also been forced to hit, but Ohtani will become the first player in league history to start at least one game as a pitcher and a non-pitcher, according to MLB's Sarah Langs.

If it’s the eve of a Phillies postseason series, Zack Wheeler is usually on center stage — or at least at a podium for the customary news conference with the Game 1 starter.

Not this year.

Wheeler was nowhere to be seen Friday, 48 days after being diagnosed with a blood clot near his right shoulder, 10 after surgery to relieve a compressed vein between his collarbone and rib cage. He won’t pitch again this year, and maybe not until after next season begins.

When Shohei Ohtani takes the mound in Philadelphia tonight, his former interpreter will be locked up in a Pennsylvania prison three hours north of Citizens Bank Park.

Ippei Mizuhara has been in custody at Federal Correctional Institution Allenwood Low in Allenwood, Pa. since June. He is serving a nearly five-year prison sentence related to a gambling scandal that threatened the career of one of baseball's biggest stars.

Mizuhara pled guilty to bank and tax fraud charges after stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani's bank account, using the money to cover gambling bets with an illegal bookmaker. The Athletic reported Mizuhara gambled more than $300 million and was nearly $41 million in debt.

Game 1 of the National League Divisional Series between the Phillies and Dodgers begins Saturday night on TBS, with first pitch scheduled for 6:38 p.m. Philly time.

Calling all the action from Citizens Bank Park is veteran TBS announcer Brian Anderson (not to be confused with the Phillies’ organist), who is also the TV voice of the Milwaukee Brewers. Joining him in the booth is a familiar name for Philly fans — Jeff Francoeur, who spent most of his career with the Atlanta Braves but played for the Phillies during the 2015 season.

Lauren Shehadi will report from Citizens Bank Park.