LOS ANGELES -- Blake Snell had already thrown a season-high 107 pitches. He had walked his last two batters. Manager Dave Roberts came to the mound, ready to hand the ball to Alex Vesia for the final out of the seventh inning.
Snell thought he had one more in him. Roberts relented and let his left-hander stay in the game.
Several moments later, Snell got Otto Kemp to swing through a perfectly placed fastball for his season-high 12th strikeout of the game to end the inning. Snell let out a roar on the mound. Roberts pumped his fist in the dugout. All around them, Dodger Stadium erupted in elation.
Snell's seven scoreless innings led the Dodgers to a 5-0 win over the Phillies on Wednesday night, salvaging the finale of the three-game set at Dodger Stadium. Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani homered, and Ben Rortvedt and Kiké Hernández also had run-scoring knocks to back the gem.
After dropping the series, the Dodgers' chances of snagging a first-round postseason bye are slim. The Phillies have a 5 1/2-game lead in the NL standings, which will likely hold up with 10 games left to play.
Should the Dodgers retain their two-game lead over the Padres in the NL West and emerge victorious from a Wild Card Series, in all likelihood, their path back to the World Series would run through Philadelphia.