Dodgers outlast Phillies, take commanding 2-0 NLDS lead

After breezing past the Cincinnati Reds in the wild-card round, the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers have kept up the momentum against the Phillies, and with Monday’s Game 2 victory in Philadelphia, they now have a 2-0 NLDS advantage.

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio got the start in left despite a hamstring injury and made his presence felt with a 419-foot, three-run homer in the fourth inning of Game 2 of the NL Division Series against the Chicago Cubs.

The homer gave Milwaukee a 7-3 lead.

Chourio, 21, had an MRI after leaving Game 1 on Saturday with a right hamstring injury after legging out an infield hit in the bottom of the second inning. It’s the same hamstring he injured in July — also while playing against the Cubs.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy said before Monday’s game that Chourio isn’t 100% and would be removed if he’s hampered at all by the injury.

“I’m sure it’s not 100%, but I’m more worried about behavior than feelings,” Murphy said before the game. “However he feels isn’t as important as how he behaves. If he gets in a situation where he doesn’t feel like he can do the job, we’re going to take him out.”

Chourio was 3-for-3 with three RBIs in Game 1 before he suffered the injury. He hit .270 with 21 home runs and 78 RBIs during the regular season.

The Brewers lead the best-of-5 series 1-0.

ESPN’s Jesse Rogers and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

PHILADELPHIA — Will Smith drove in two runs in support of Blake Snell, who tossed six masterful innings of one-hit ball, and the Los Angeles Dodgers outlasted the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 in Game 2 of the NLDS on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park.

With the win, the Dodgers improved to 4-0 in the postseason, and own a 2-0 series lead headed into Wednesday’s Game 3 in Los Angeles.

The Phillies, eliminated in the same round last season by the New York Mets, have lost five of the past six postseason games. And in Monday’s loss, the struggles continued for stars Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.

“You’d like those guys to be swinging the bats,” Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said of his top three hitters, who are a combined 2-for-21 in this series. “But I do like what we’re doing at the bottom part of the order. And Snell was good tonight, but I thought our at-bats were better. … But you do have to have confidence that those guys will get it going.”

Turner ended the game with a groundout in the ninth inning, when Los Angeles first baseman Freddie Freeman saved a wild throw from second baseman Tommy Edman that would have scored at least the tying run.

“Obviously, Tommy threw it into the dirt, thankfully, I was able to catch it and stay on the base,” Freeman said. “But that was a stressful inning.”

Snell struck out nine before giving way to relievers Emmet Sheehan, Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia and Roki Sasaki.

Shohei Ohtani delivered an RBI single for his first hit of the series in a four-run seventh, and the Dodgers took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Nick Castellanos slid headfirst into second base, barely eluding a tag, for a two-run double off Treinen that sent the Philadelphia crowd into a frenzy and trimmed the Phillies’ deficit to 4-3. Vesia came in to face Bryson Stott, who tried to advance Castellanos with a bunt. But third baseman Max Muncy wheeled and threw to shortstop Mookie Betts, who sprinted to cover the bag in time to get Castellanos.

Pinch hitter Harrison Bader singled, and Max Kepler grounded into a fielder’s choice that left runners at the corners with two outs just before Turner grounded out.

The Dodgers can advance to their 17th National League Championship Series with a win Wednesday night. A club that used the injured list this season 37 times for 2,585 days, according to Major League Baseball, is finally mostly healthy and needs to win just once in two home games to clinch the series. Teams taking a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five postseason series have won 80 of 90 times, including 54 sweeps.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.