Phillies vs. Dodgers: NLDS schedule, pitching matchups, ticket info, how to watch, and more

Red October has officially arrived, and now, the Phillies know their first opponent — the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Whether you’re headed down to Citizens Bank Park to cheer on the Phils, or just ready to have a good time watching from home, we’ve got you covered with answers to a few of the biggest postseason questions.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the National League division series ...

The National League East champion Phillies will play the No. 3 seed Dodgers in the NLDS, which will start on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. The Dodgers won the NL West this season and swept the Cincinnati Reds in the wild-card round.

All of their NLDS games will air live on TBS and can be streamed on HBO Max.

The Phillies will play the first two games and the final game, if needed, at Citizens Bank Park. The series is a best-of-five, so at least one game will be played at Dodger Stadium.

The Phillies will start Saturday’s Game 1 at 6:38 p.m. Monday’s Game 2 will start at 6:08 p.m.

Here’s the full schedule ...

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If you didn’t already enter the Phillies’ ticket draw for the opportunity to buy tickets, or have a season-ticket package, you’re probably out of luck on face-value tickets, but there are tickets available on the secondary market. The lowest get-in price for Game 1 on Ticketmaster and StubHub on Wednesday evening was right around $300.

If you already have tickets, the league and the Phillies are encouraging fans to exercise caution with the MLB Ballpark app after some fans reported being scammed out of their tickets.

“Due to irregular activity surrounding some fan accounts, we are requiring a certain group of fans to reset their password to a new, unique password that they will not use anywhere else,” MLB shared in a statement to The Inquirer. “We have taken this step as a precaution in an effort to protect fans and their tickets. To avoid any delay entering the ballpark, fans should check their Ballpark account and/or proactively reset their password before arriving at the game. They should log out of all MLB applications and log back in with their updated password.”

In the other NLDS series, the top-seeded Brewers will face the Cubs. The winner of that series will face the winner of the Phillies-Dodgers series in the NLCS.

On the American League side, the top-seeded Blue Jays will host the Yankees, and the second-seeded Mariners will host the Tigers. The winners of those two series will face each other in the ALCS, and the winner of that will play the NLCS winner in the World Series.

The Phillies would have home-field advantage in any potential World Series matchup, but would not have home-field advantage against the Brewers if both teams were to make the NLCS.

Here’s the full breakdown of playoff series dates and where they’ll air:

It’s a bit too early to say what the full Dodgers rotation might look like, but Shohei Ohtani is set to make his first career playoff start in Game 1. He has pitched five or more innings just three times this season as he returned from Tommy John surgery, including a six-inning start in his final outing of the year.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season, is likely to start Game 3 after pitching in the Dodgers’ wild-card clincher on Wednesday. He posted a 2.49 ERA in 30 starts, striking out 29.4% of batters faced. Former Cy Young winner Blake Snell, who started the Dodgers’ postseason opener and pitched to a 2.35 ERA this season, is likely set for Game 2.

» READ MORE: Phillies tune up for the NLDS with an intrasquad game before thousands at the Bank

For the Phillies, they’ll send lefty Cristopher Sánchez to the mound in Game 1, but have not yet set the rest of their rotation, which is expected to include Ranger Suárez and Jesús Luzardo.

Ohtani doesn’t just pitch. The Japanese star is likely en route to another NL MVP, and hit two towering home runs in the Dodgers’ postseason opener against the Reds, but he’s not the only dangerous player on the roster.

In addition to Ohtani, the Dodgers had a pair of All-Stars in their lineup this season: catcher Will Smith and first baseman Freddie Freeman. The Dodgers also have shortstop Mookie Betts, an eight-time All-Star near the top of their order.

The Dodgers had six position players post a WAR over three this season — Ohtani (6.8), Betts (4.8), Smith (4.5), center fielder Andy Pages (3.8), third baseman Max Muncy (3.6), and Freeman (3.5) — while the Phillies had three such players — Trea Turner (5.5), Kyle Schwarber (4.7), and Bryce Harper (3.2)

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Luke Murton just completed his first season as the Phillies’ minor league director. He joins Phillies Extra to discuss the state of the farm system, including the 2026 expectations for Justin Crawford, Andrew Painter, and Aidan Miller, as well as less heralded players to monitor. Watch here.

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