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PHILADELPHIA: The Phillies had Shohei Ohtani on the ropes on the mound and tied up at the plate, the Dodgers’ two-way star seemingly losing the air of invincibility that surrounds him.
Ohtani the ace recovered, and he did it one swing-and-a-miss at a time against a string of All-Stars in the Phillies’ lineup.
Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper all disappeared in the playoffs again in Game 1 of the NL Division Series, a combined 1-for-11 effort with six strikeouts and no RBIs in the 5-3 loss.
Game 2 is Monday at Citizens Bank Park, you know, that boisterous ballpark known for its so-called four hours of hell that is supposed to rattle the nerves of even the most steeled players.
Heck, even a three-time MVP such as Ohtani — who struck out four times Saturday night — acknowledged ahead of the game that he was a bit anxious to face the fans.
Here’s the headache for the Phillies: They have wasted home-field advantage with four losses in their last five postseason home games. So they enter Game 2 with cold bats, have lost that extra oomph that 45,000 fans usually provide and have to try to regain their playoff mojo against the reigning World Series champions and two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.
“I don’t sense any extra pressure,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Sunday.
He might not sense it, but the fan base does, especially with little room for error — or Matt Strahm meatballs — in the best-of-five series.
Ohtani retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced, and Turner, Schwarber and Harper went 0 for 9 with five strikeouts against the right-hander.
From two-way sensation to two-time Cy Young postseason standout, the series won’t necessarily get easier for the Phillies.
Snell, who missed four months of his first season in Los Angeles with shoulder inflammation, struck out a season-high 12 over seven innings in a September start against the Phillies.
Snell got the ball last week in the Wild Card Series opener and struck out nine over seven strong innings. He retired his initial eight batters in his first playoff start since 2022, when he was with the San Diego Padres. Snell matched his postseason high for strikeouts in the longest postseason start of his career.
He is 5-3 with a 3.23 ERA in 13 career playoff appearances (11 starts).
“I feel good with Snell going tomorrow,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Here’s some more good news for the Dodgers, already the betting favorite to win the game and series, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
Harper is 1 for 11 with a home run and two RBIs lifetime against Snell. Schwarber, the NL home run and RBI champion, is 2 for 12 with a homer and three RBIs, and Turner is a moderately better 4 for 17 with three RBIs in 20 plate appearances vs. Snell.
“Just like everything else, we’re going to be attacking it head on and we’re going to be excited to walk into the clubhouse and get back on the field and play another high, meaningful game here,” Schwarber said Saturday night. “That’s what this is about. This is never going to be easy. You’re facing the best of the best out here. It’s up to us to be able to make the adjustments and go out there and feel like we’re doing everything possible to put ourselves in position to win a baseball game.”
Jesús Luzardo (15-7, 3.92 ERA) starts Game 2 for the Phillies.
Bader is feeling better
Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader could play in Game 2 after leaving the opener with a groin injury.
Thomson said Sunday that imaging showed no major tear or strain in Bader’s groin. Thomson said the Phillies would have a better idea on Monday if Bader, who settled center field and morphed into a fan favorite down the stretch, could start or at least be used as a pinch hitter.
“I think after the game they stretched him out, got him moving around a little bit,” Thomson said. “I think he felt a lot better after that.”
Bader made one of the Game 1 plays of the game when he sprinted to his left on Andy Pages’ tying shot in the fifth inning and made the diving grab for the out. Bader, who added a sacrifice fly, said he felt tightness later in the game running the bases.
“This is kind of the point in the season where you just empty the tank,” Bader said after the game.
Should Bader miss Game 2, Nick Castellanos likely would return to the starting lineup in right field, with Brandon Marsh in center field and Max Kepler in right.
Four hours in Philly of what the hell is this?
Zack Wheeler received a roaring ovation when the ace sidelined because of complications from a blood clot returned in full uniform for the roster introductions. Phillies fans went wild when Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt threw the first pitch and they never stopped booing Ohtani — boos so loud they drowned out the pregame hype video playing on the big screen.
Yet, they lost for the fourth time in the last five home playoff games (they won 12 of 14 before this current stretch) and they lost the opener in a season where they went 55-26 at home.
Could it be the Phillies are feeling the postseason pressure to impress at home?
“I don’t think so. I don’t feel that,” Thomson said. “Our crowds have been outstanding. It was really loud and boisterous and rabid last night, just like our normal playoff fans are.”
Loud crowds are nice. But fans — even if they think they can after completing the 9-9-9 challenge — can’t help the Phillies connect against some of the best pitching in baseball.
“We just didn’t get the big hit when we needed it. We had some chances,” Thomson said. “It’s the way it is. I think it’s just the ebbs and flows of the game, and we’ve got to come out here tomorrow night and play well.”

LONDON: Newcastle beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 to extend Ange Postecoglou’s wait for a win, while Crystal Palace’s 19-game unbeaten run was ended by Jack Grealish’s late winner for Everton on Sunday.

Postecoglou faced calls from the Forest fans for him to be sacked after just six games in the closing stages of Thursday’s 3-2 Europa League defeat to Midtjylland.

The Australian is the first Forest boss in over 100 years to fail to win in his first seven games and now faces an anxious wait to see if club owner Evangelos Marinakis decides to make another managerial change over the international break.

Newcastle had only won one of their opening six Premier League games. But Bruno Guimaraes led the Magpies to victory with a brilliant strike from outside the box to break the deadlock on 58 minutes.

Guimaraes then won a penalty after robbing former team-mate Elliot Anderson inside the Forest box.

Nick Woltemade smashed the resulting spot-kick into the top corner for his fourth Newcastle goal since joining from Stuttgart last month.

Forest slip to 17th, the same league position that saw Postecoglou sacked by Tottenham at the end of last season despite winning the Europa League.

Meanwhile, Palace missed the chance to go second after suffering a European hangover at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The Eagles were dominant in the first 45 minutes but were left to rue not adding to Daniel Munoz’s finish from Ismaila Sarr’s pass.

However, their Conference League exertions in winning away to Dynamo Kyiv on Thursday took their toll in the second half.

Iliman Ndiaye equalized from the penalty spot after Maxence Lacroix clumsily upended Beto as Everton fought back to avoid a first defeat at their new home.

Grealish then got fortunate for his first Everton goal as Munoz’s attempted clearance rebounded off the Manchester City loanee into the roof of the net.

After a slow start to the season, Aston Villa beat Burnley 2-1 to secure a fourth win in the last 11 days.

Donyell Malen was the Villa match-winner with his first goals since April.

The Dutch forward opened the scoring after racing onto Boubacar Kamara’s brilliant through ball to slot into the far corner.

Morgan Rogers was the creator for the second that Malen controlled before drilling confidently into the far corner.

Lesley Ugochukwu pulled a goal back but Burnley remain in the relegation zone.

Wolves are still rooted to the foot of the table after conceding a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Brighton.

The Seagulls’ only two league wins this season have come against Manchester City and Chelsea and they again failed to deliver in a seemingly more winnable game.

Bart Verbruggen’s own-goal put Wolves in front just seconds after home boss Vitor Pereira was shown a red card.

The Dutch international was desperately unlucky as he turned Marshall Munetsi’s thunderous volley onto the bar, but saw the ball rebound into the net off his back.

Wolves conceded in stoppage time to draw at Tottenham last weekend and suffered a similar fate when Jan Paul van Hecke bulleted in a header from a corner five minutes from time.