Read about the management in the divisional series second game for each NLDS matchup.
Today we featured two games, both of the National League Divisional Series matchups. The Phillies, down 1-0 in the series against the Dodgers were at home again, while the Brewers who were facing the Cubs, were at home again already up 1-0. Both games were entertaining, but for different reasons.
Phillies vs Dodgers
I really can’t question any of the coaching decisions made in this game. There are many thoughts that I have about this game though. Let’s get into it. The Phillies started Jesus Luzardo and he pitched really well. I know he took the loss in this game, but he pitched brilliantly. 6 innings pitched, 2 earned runs, and 5 strikeouts. He went out for the 7th inning, which to some fans may seem like a bad decision, but his pitch count was low and this season he only gave up a .188 batting average to hitters through the third time in the order. Every metric that coaches use to determine whether to send the pitcher out again, said to send Luzardo back out there.
The only problem is Teoscar Hernandez is battling Vlad Guerrero Jr for the title of best hitter on the planet right now. Hernandez started the rally with a single, followed by a Freddie Freeman double. Orion Kerkering came into pitch for Luzardo, and struck out Tommy Edman on 4 pitches. Kike Hernandez came up and hit a single to shortstop which brought in Teoscar Hernandez and on the throw to home, Freeman ended up taking third base. After a walk and a pop out, Will Smith came up with 2 outs and the bases loaded and hit a single, scoring Freeman. Matt Strahm replaced Kerkering and let up a single to Shohei Ohtani and scored another run for the Dodgers to take a 4-0 lead. I’ve spoken a lot about Jesus Luzardo in this article because I honestly thought he would be the question mark for the Phillies in this game, not the bullpen. However, Luzardo’s counterpart, Blake Snell, pitched even better for the Dodgers. Snell went 7 innings of 1 hit ball, despite throwing 4 walks, he allowed no runs. He also added 9 strikeouts of his own. Snell lowered his 2025 postseason ERA to 1.28.
A very good start turned into a loss for Luzardo after one inning. Again, I cannot be upset about the coaching decision to let Luzardo go out for the 7th inning. His stats were better the third time through the order than the second time through. The Phillies did make a comeback in the 8th and the 9th, as Max Kepler was driven in by Trea Turner after Kepler hit a triple. Emmett Sheehan gave up the run in the 8th but looked better in Game 2 than he did earlier in the playoffs, that’s a positive sign for the Dodgers. Blake Treinen, on the other hand, looked worse. Treinen was unable to record an out and allowed 2 earned runs on 3 hits. Bryson Stott then bunted into a fielder’s choice, where Nick Castellanos was tagged out at third, making the first out of the 9th inning. It was a very good defensive play by Max Muncy, on a very poorly executed sacrifice bunt by Stott. Harrison Bader then singled, bringing Stott to second. Two ground outs later, and this game was over.
There was one instant of coaching that I questioned and probably would have changed. We saw later in the game that the Phillies were not opposed to bunting. In the third inning, Brandon Marsh led off with a walk. Otto Kemp came up next before the lineup turned over. I would have liked to see Kemp bunt in this situation. Runs have been a premium against the Dodgers and in most of the series so far (Sorry Cubs fans, you guys know what I’m talking about), so putting the Dodgers in a high pressure moment early in the game, especially at home seemed like the best route to take. Instead, Blake Snell proceeded to strikeout Kemp, Turner, and then pick off Marsh on a steal attempt. If the Phillies lay down a bunt, this game plays out completely different. Especially if they put a run on the board early. The Phillies also need Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber to wake up their bats. The two are usually good in the postseason, but are combined for a 1-14 split this series thus far.
Brewers vs Cubs
My cousins in Wisconsin are very, very happy right now. However, my family in Chicago are very, very upset right now. This was practically the same storyline as Game 1 in Game 2. Cubs take the lead on a home run in the first inning, then the starter falls apart, and the Brewers bullpen shuts down the Cubs hitters. Remember when I said the Cubs’ front office needed to make better trades at the deadline? The Brewers went out and got Andrew Vaughn a month before the deadline, and is now hitting .333 in the playoffs. Vaughn put up a three-run homer against the Cubs today. That was to tie the game after Seiya Suzuki gave the Cubs a three run homer. William Contreras added a solo homer off of starter Shota Imanaga to go up 4-3 in the 3rd. Imanaga went 2.2 innings and gave up 4 earned runs.
In the 4th inning, Jackson Chourio (who also is trying to give Vlad Guerrero Jr competition for World Series MVP) hit a 3 run homer off of Daniel Palencia. That leads us to my first question of the game… the game was tied at 3 when Palencia came into the game at the tail end of the 2nd inning. The Cubs needed someone who could go multiple innings. Palencia isn’t that guy. With Mike Soroka, Ben Brown, Drew Pomeranz, and Colin Rea in the bullpen, it didn’t make sense to me that Palencia was first out of the pen. I have not been a fan of the decisions that manager Craig Counsell has made this postseason. He has looked like the weakest manager in the MLB postseason thus far. Milwaukee fans are loving to read that. The Brewers bullpen made Manager Pat Murphy proud, with the headliners being Jacob Misiorowski and Jared Koenig who threw a combined 4.1 innings of 1 hit ball with 5 strikeouts.
The headlines of this series so far are the deadline moves, and the lack thereof for the Cubs. The lack of hitting for the Cubs outside of the first inning, and the pure dominance of the Brewers pitching and hitting. Every aspect of the Brewers game has been better than the Cubs, and the matchup of managers has been heavily in favor of the Brewers Pat Murphy.
Final Thoughts
The Cubs are going to be swept on Wednesday at Wrigley Field. I don’t see a way for the Cubs to continue this series. Quinn Priester has been great this season, however, there is hope since Jameson Taillon pitched lights out in the Wild Card series. The Phillies faceoff against the Dodgers again in a battle of starting pitchers. Aaron Nola gets the ball for the Phillies, while Yoshinobu Yamamoto will take the helm for the Dodgers. I could see this being a sweep in Los Angeles as well, as Nola has not had a good regular season. Come on back tomorrow when I recap the American League games from October 7th. As always, thank you for being a reader of Behind the Coaching!
