Dodgers turn to Yamamoto with sweep on the mind against Phillies in Game 3 of NLDS

The Los Angeles Dodgers are turning to their ace to complete a National League Division Series sweep on Wednesday night. 

Up 2-0 on the Philadelphia Phillies after two away games, the Boys in Blue return home to Dodger Stadium in what would be their second-straight sweep in the postseason, after cruising past the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card round. 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, far and away the Dodgers' best starting pitcher this season, will toe the bump as they look to finish off the Phillies and move on to the NL Championship Series, where they'll face either the Milwaukee Brewers or Chicago Cubs. 

In 2025, Yamamoto was 12-8 with a 2.49 ERA and 201 strikeouts in 173 and 2/3 innings pitched. He started the second game of the Wild Card Series, tossing six and 2/3 innings while striking out nine. He gave up just four hits, limiting Cincinnati to two unearned runs. 

The Phillies are sending Aaron Nola to the mound for Game 3. In 2025, a large part of which was marred by an injury, he was 5-10 with a 6.01 ERA in 17 starts. He hasn't yet pitched in the playoffs this season.

Shohei Ohtani, despite allowing three early runs in Game 1, wound up the game's winning pitcher after pitching through six innings. He's also hitting .222 at the plate with two homers and five runs driven in, continuing to dazzle as the game's finest two-way player. 

So far in October, Philadelphia's offense has struggled to produce runs, hitting just .214 with runners in scoring position. They have yet to hit a home run, despite sporting one of MLB's most prolific offenses during the regular season. They've had just five extra-base hits and have scored a second-worst six runs in their two games played thus far. 

Big names have scuffled against Los Angeles' pitching staff, with Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Nicholas Castellanos combining for a .111 batting average. 

The Dodgers' lineup, on the other hand, has been firing on all cylinders throughout the postseason. They scored 18 runs in the Wild Card round, and have tallied another nine in the NLDS. Teoscar Hernández continues to come through in big spots, slugging a huge three-run homer in Game 1 that gave the Dodgers the lead, while Kiké Hernández has also solidified himself as one of October's best performers, hitting .313 with four runs batted in across LA's four games so far. 

Mookie Betts is also on a tear, slicing .389/.421/.556 with three extra-base hits and three RBIs. 

Game time is scheduled for 6:08 p.m. PDT. If the Dodgers fail to secure the sweep, Game 4 is scheduled for the same time Thursday night at Dodger Stadium. Should the Phillies win both of those games, the deciding Game 5 will be held on Saturday in Philadelphia.