The divisional round of the 2025 MLB playoffs continued on Monday with the two National League series taking center stage. The Los Angeles Dodgers held off a late rally from the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3, to take a 2-0 series lead, while the Milwaukee Brewers took advantage of a three-homer night to win 7-3 and take a 2-0 lead over the Chicago Cubs.
Here are some key takeaways from Monday’s games.
Freddie Freeman bails Dodgers out after early pitcher’s duel in Philadelphia
Down 4-3 with two outs in the ninth and runners on the corners, the Phillies appeared to be in an excellent position to tie the series at one game apiece.
That was until shortstop Trea Turner grounded out to second. Despite a poor throw to first base from Tommy Edman, Freeman stretched for the game’s final out to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
The 4-3 final score was not indicative of the great pitching early in the game. Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell only allowed one hit and struck out nine across six innings. It was his fourth career postseason outing with nine or more strikeouts and two or fewer hits allowed, the most by any pitcher in MLB history.
On the other side, Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo was just as impressive, giving up three hits and striking out five in six innings. This foul out from Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts capped a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth and served as Luzardo’s 17th straight batter retired in the game.
A four-run seventh from the Dodgers quickly broke the game open before Philadelphia staged one last rally with a run in the eighth and a pair of runs in the ninth. Dodgers closer Roki Sasaki recorded the game’s final out after just two pitches as Freeman made the epic play to seal the deal.
Now, after getting a bye through the wild-card round, the Phillies have their backs against the wall as the series shifts to Los Angeles. Unless they can get off to a better start, it is hard to see the Phillies erasing a 2-0 hole against a stacked Dodgers team.
Three-homer night from Brewers puts Cubs on brink of elimination
It did not take long for the bats to catch fire in this one. After Seiya Suzuki crushed a three-run homer for the Cubs in the first inning — his seventh homer in his last nine games — Brewers first baseman Andrew Vaughn answered back with a three-run shot of his own in the bottom of the inning.
According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, that is the first time in postseason history that each team hit a three-run home run (or grand slam) in the first inning.
A solo shot to left from catcher William Contreras in the third and a three-run homer from outfielder Jackson Chourio in the fourth put Milwaukee up 7-3.
Brewers starter Aaron Ashby only went 1.2 innings after giving up the three-run homer, but some red-hot bats and a strong postseason debut from Jacob Misiorowski quickly made up for it.
Misiorowski’s first postseason pitch topped out at 103 mph, and his first eight were all fastballs, with the slowest clocked in at 102.6 mph.