The Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies was a battle royale. Two evenly-matched teams duking it out for a chance to advance in the postseason. Every game was full of drama. Ultimately, the Dodgers emerged victorious. Here are the four turning points that largely determined the outcome.
Four Turning Points in the Dodgers’ Division Series Win
As Teo Turns
Teoscar Hernández was instrumental in the Dodgers’ World Series run last year. This season, he hasn’t contributed the way he’d have liked due to injuries. Those injuries seem to have also contributed to a downturn in defense. In Game One, he failed to cut off a ball in the gap that eventually allowed an extra run to score for the Philadelphia Phillies. However, Hernández’s moment of redemption came in the top of the seventh inning. The Dodgers were trailing by a run. There were two runners on with two outs. The Dodgers’ butter and egg man deposited a home run over the right-center field fence. Citizen’s Bank Park went silent, and the Dodgers went on to win.
The Wheel Play
In Game Two, the Dodgers got out to a 4-0 lead in the seventh inning, but the Phillies rallied back against the Los Angeles bullpen in the eighth and ninth, making it a one-run game, and it looked like they weren’t done. Philadelphia scored two runs in the ninth to make it 4-3, and there was a runner at second with nobody out. During a pitching change, Mookie Betts suggested the Dodgers try the wheel play to cut down the lead runner should the Phillies bunt. They did. Max Muncy fielded the bunt and threw a strike to Betts, who was covering third. The runner was out, and the Dodgers preserved their slim one-run lead. Here’s the kicker: the Dodgers haven’t practiced that play since the designated hitter was installed in the National League.
A Glove Save and a Beauty
Later in the ninth inning, the Phillies are threatening again. They have runners at first and third base with two outs. The Dodgers’ newfound closer Roki Sasaki enters the game to get the final out. He induces a ground ball to second base from Trea Turner. However, Tommy Edman short-arms the throw, and Freddie Freeman has to dive and scoop the feed while keeping his foot on the bag to preserve the win.
Three Cheers for Roki
The highly-touted rookie Sasaki has had a year marred by injuries, control issues, and mechanical problems. There were even questions whether he would pitch again this season. He reinvented himself out of the bullpen and has been nothing short of clutch. In Game Four, the rookie threw three scoreless innings on 36 pitches. Eighty percent of them were strikes. It is a safe bet to say that without Sasaki as a stabilizing force, the Dodgers would be in Philadelphia today getting ready for Game Five.
In MLB postseason history, only one pitcher has tossed a perfect 8th, a perfect 9th and a perfect 10th in a series-clinching victory.
That one pitcher was the @Dodgers‘ Roki Sasaki yesterday – as a 23-year-old rookie. pic.twitter.com/rfNAxq04hG
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 10, 2025
The Dodgers advance to the National League Championship Series bruised but unbowed. The Phillies were a worthy opponent. However, the road to the World Series doesn’t get any easier. Los Angeles awaits the Milwaukee Brewers or the Chicago Cubs. Both teams beat the Dodgers in their respective regular-season series. It will be interesting to see if the Dodgers are up for the challenge.
Main Photo Credit: © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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