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- Phillies' Harper and Schwarber in postseason slump as team faces elimination against Dodgers</p>
<p>BETH HARRIS October 8, 2025 at 3:47 AM</p>
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<p>1 / 5NLDS Dodgers BaseballLos Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, left, talks with Mookie Betts during practice Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, the day before Game 3 of baseball's National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)</p>
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are mired in the same kind of postseason slump that wrecked the Los Angeles Dodgers two years ago.</p>
<p>Back then, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts were a combined 1 for 21 as the Dodgers were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 NL Division Series. Their lone hit was an infield single by Freeman.</p>
<p>Harper and Schwarber are 1 for 15 with eight strikeouts, putting the Philadelphia Phillies on the brink of elimination. They trail 2-0 in the best-of-five NLDS with Game 3 on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<p>"I think the postseason you've got to flush as quick as possible because any at-bat can change the course of a game or change the course of a series," Harper said Tuesday.</p>
<p>Betts remembers the frustration he felt knowing how much the Dodgers were counting on him and Freeman, but nothing they tried made a difference.</p>
<p>"When you get in that rut and it seems like it's quicksand, it's tough," Betts said. "Hell, I didn't get out of it, so I have no advice or anything. Good luck to those guys and we'll see if they have the answer."</p>
<p>Only two teams have ever come back from a 2-0 deficit in the NLDS.</p>
<p>Phillies manager Rob Thomson was bench coach for the New York Yankees in 2017, when they rallied from a 2-0 deficit against the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS to win and advance to the AL Championship Series.</p>
<p>"You've got to slow things down — one inning at a time, really, and come out and relax and be yourselves," Thomson said. "Don't try to do too much."</p>
<p>Betts is not discounting the Phillies.</p>
<p>"They got on the plane with full intentions of going back for a Game 5," he said. "We've got to be able to withstand the punches that they're going to throw and be able to throw some back."</p>
<p>Wheel play</p>
<p>The Dodgers successfully executed a defensive wheel play in the bottom of the ninth Monday.</p>
<p>With Nick Castellanos on second, third baseman Max Muncy rushed home plate to field a bunt by Bryson Stott, turned and perfectly threw to shortstop Betts, who was covering third. Betts got the out while being upended by a sliding Castellanos.</p>
<p>"It's such a basic play," Betts said. "It would be like the Lakers. They won the NBA championship running the 2-3 zone. That's how I view it. It's just we ran it in a big spot and we were able to do it right. We executed it really perfectly myself, just the timing of it."</p>
<p>Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wasn't surprised at Betts' execution of the play named for the wheel-like rotation of the infielders.</p>
<p>"I think that especially as an outfielder for the most part of his career to then come into the infield, he's got a lot of feel," the manager said. "He's got a lot of belief in his ability. He made a great play, a really, really great play."</p>
<p>Even Thomson had to concede the Dodgers' aggression paid off.</p>
<p>"Mookie Betts did a heck of a job by breaking very late so the hitter can't adjust to the slash," he said. "It's tough for Nick to get a proper secondary or bigger secondary because Betts is sitting right behind him. It was a good play."</p>
<p>Injury updates</p>
<p>Phillies center fielder Harrison Bader will be a game-time decision Wednesday.</p>
<p>He left Game 1 early with a groin injury and came off the bench in Game 2 to deliver a pinch-hit single during the Phillies' ninth-inning rally.</p>
<p>"He said he feels a little bit better today," Thomson said.</p>
<p>Dodgers catcher Will Smith also is a game-time decision, although Roberts said he feels "more confident" that Smith will be able to start. Smith came off the bench Monday and hit a crucial two-run single in the seventh. He's been nursing a hand injury since last month.</p>
<p>Dodgers backup shortstop Miguel Rojas left Game 2 with hamstring tightness, aggravating an injury that had been bothering him recently. He won't be in the lineup Wednesday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB</p>
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