NLDS Game 2 winners and losers: Phillies' stars disappearing vs. Dodgers, Brewers flexing muscles vs. Cubs

The Brewers defeated the Cubs 7-3 on Monday, improving to a 2-0 advantage in their best-of-five Division Series.

As with Game 1, the Cubs jumped out to an early lead, only to see the Brewers catch up and pass them by. Milwaukee scored all seven runs on the home-run ball, with William Contreras, Andrew Vaughn, and Jackson Chourio providing the damage. Chourio's home run was particularly notable, since he exited Game 1 with a hamstring injury that left his status for this contest in doubt.

Milwaukee went with a glorified bullpen game on the mound. Aaron Ashby opened the contest, delivering 1 ⅔ innings before departing. The only Brewers pitcher to record six outs or more was rookie Jacob Misiorowski, who held the Cubs to no runs on a hit and two walks while punching out four batters in three innings of work. 

Only two teams have ever rallied from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five NLDS to advance: the 1981 Dodgers and the 2012 Giants. Both of those series were played under the 2-3 format rather than the 2-2-1 format currently employed. 

The two sides will reconvene on Wednesday for Game 3. That will take place at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. 

Who are we kidding? It's over. It's 7-3 Brewers and the Cubs' offense hasn't shown life since the first inning. Abner Uribe is closing this down. Two outs for the Cubs. One to go until it's 2-0 Brewers in the series.

Heading into the series, it was discussed that the Cubs were one of the best defensive teams in baseball. Up the middle they are particularly strong with Nico Hoerner (2B), Dansby Swanson (SS) and Pete Crow-Armstrong (CF). Hoerner made a key error in Game 1 and Swanson just made a bad throwing error.

Brewers have maintained a 7-3 lead.

Patrick is a rookie who made 27 appearances, 23 of them starts, in the regular season and was pretty darn good. He had a 3.53 ERA (117 ERA+). He's tough. And that he wasn't in the rotation all year is another testament to the Brewers' organizational depth.

The Brewers have scored all their runs on long balls. Chourio, whose status for this game was uncertain because of a hamstring injury, just teed off with a two-out, three-run blast. Take a look:

The Brewers now lead 7-3 in the fourth.

Ortiz with a two-out single. Brewers trying to tack on here in the fourth.

He's missing the strike zone a bunch but also missing a lot of bats with his filthy stuff. He's thrown 37 pitches through two innings. I'm going to disagree with color commentator Ron Darling here, who said that Misiorowski will pitch as long as he's effective, suggesting he could finish the game. He hasn't thrown more than 75 pitches since Sept. 7 and rarely works up over 90. I think he'll be capped. Regardless, he's in good shape so far and the Brewers have good, fresh bullpen arms behind him.

After the Contreras homer, Christian Yelich singled and Shota Imanaga is done. Former closer Daniel Palencia enters the game. Andrew Vaughn, who hit a three-run homer in the first, to the plate.

William Contreras goes deep with the Brewers' second home run of the game. It is 4-3. 

As a reminder, the Brewers scored nine runs in Game 1 without hitting a home run. They are showing they can do it both ways now.

And, again, Cubs starter Shota Imanaga's big problem is allowing home runs. He'd be pretty damn good otherwise, but that's a big problem to have. 

Misiorowski with a scoreless frame. He's excited. 

Jacob Misiorowski is warming here in the bottom of the second. 

For the gambling folks out there, the over looks good. The over/under was 7.5 for this game. It's already 3-3. Cubs starter Shota Imanaga struck out the first two Brewers hitters, but then William Contreras and Christian Yelich singled before Andrew Vaughn hit a three-run home run. 

Home runs have been a big issue for Cubs starter Shota Imanaga all season. He's now coughed up a homer in 11 straight starts and 22 total since the All-Star break.

Vaughn was having a miserable season before being traded to the Brewers and since then his career has taken off. He was hitting .189/.218/.314 before the deal and with the Brewers in the regular season he hit .308/.375/.493 with nine homers and 46 RBI in 64 games.

With one out, the Cubs got a Nico Hoerner single, Kyle Tucker walk and then Seiya Suzuki came through with a prodigious home run. It is 3-0 Cubs against Brewers opener Aaron Ashby.

Suzuki had quite the up-and-down season. He was one of the best sluggers in baseball in the first half. He was utterly dreadful for nearly all of the second half, but then hit five home runs in the final four games of the season before homering again in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series. He doubled in Game 2 and in Game 3, too. 

The defending champs are on the cusp of a return trip to the NLCS. The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five NLDS with a win Monday night in Philadelphia against the NL No. 2 seed Phillies. The Dodgers got four runs in the seventh inning and were able to hang on by the skin of their teeth, 4-3. 

It was a pitcher's duel through six. Jesús Luzardo of the Phillies and Blake Snell of the Dodgers matched zeroes. The Phillies tried to sneak another inning out of Luzardo and he gave up a pair of hits to start the seventh before being pulled. The Dodgers got one run on a weak tapper to shortstop with Teoscar Hernández just barely beating the throw home. Then, with two outs and the bases loaded, Will Smith came through with the big blow of the game. 

That two-RBI single made it 3-0 Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani followed with an RBI single. The Dodgers  needed every bit of that breathing room. 

The Phillies would rally, briefly, in the eighth inning. Max Kepler tripled and then Trea Turner singled him home to breathe a little life into what was a pretty quiet Citizens Bank Park heading into the inning. Kyle Schwarber struck out and Bryce Harper flew out to end the threat though. The duo is 1 for 15 with eight strikeouts this series. 

The Phillies then made things incredibly interesting in the ninth. Alec Bohm singled and J.T. Realmuto doubled. Then Nick Castellanos came through with a two-RBI double. A bunt attempt got Castellanos thrown out at third but then Harrison Bader singled to put the tying run back in scoring position. After a fielder's choice cut down the pinch runner for Bader, Weston Wilson, at second, the Phillies were able to bring Trea Turner to the plate with the tying run on third and winning run on first. The Dodgers went to Roki Sasaki. He induced a Turner groundout to end it.

Snell only allowed one hit in his six scoreless innings and struck out nine. He along with Smith and Hernández would be the three stars of the game for the winners. 

The series now shifts to Dodger Stadium for Game 3 and, if necessary, Game 4. The Dodgers are in a position where simply avoiding a three-game losing streak gets them into the NLCS while the Phillies need to rip off three straight wins against a strong Dodgers team. The Phillies won two of three in Dodger Stadium last month.

Runners on first and third with two outs. 4-3 Dodgers lead. The rookie starter is on to close this thing down against veteran All-Star Trea Turner. This is a pleasure to watch.

It's still 4-3 Dodgers, but now there are runners on first and second after Bader singles. Weston Wilson pinch runs for Bader due to the groin injury for Bader. It's Max Kepler and then the top of the order. 

Stott attempted a sac bunt, but Castellanos was nailed at third base, so now the Phillies have the tying run on first base and not in scoring position. There's still one out with a runner on, but things just shifted in a major way.

Here comes Harrison Bader to the on-deck circle. He's been outstanding for the Phillies this season, but hadn't played yet in this game due to a tweaked groin from Game 1. This is fun.

First, Bryson Stott hits.

Lefties Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh are due up. The Phillies have some right-handed bats on the bench if they want, such as Harrison Bader (who might be unavailable due to injury) and Weston Wilson.

Nick Castellanos doubles home two runs and Citizens Bank Park is rocking. The Dodgers have a 4-3 lead, but the tying run is on second with no outs.

J.T. Realmuto doubles and the Phillies have the tying run coming to the plate. Runners at second and third with no outs. Here comes Nick Castellanos.

The Phillies have the tying run on deck with no out.

It's a 4-1 lead that Blake Treinen is tasked with handling. He's done this before in the postseason and was fine in the Wild Card Series, but he overall had a bad year in the regular season. Of course, he only needs to get three outs before allowing three runs.

I'm a bit surprised it's not Roki Sasaki. Treinen had a 5.40 ERA in the regular season and Sasaki has looked totally unhittable so far in the playoffs. 

Sheehan gives up a run, but otherwise doesn't break. It's 4-1 Dodgers heading to the ninth.

Sheehan K's Schwarber. Big out.

Phillies need three more runs to tie. They have five outs to play with. We'll see. Dodgers bullpen has had some issues this year, even if it's a better unit now with some of their spare starters in there.

Turner singles in a run here in the eighth to plate Max Kepler, who notched a pinch-hit triple previously. It's now 4-1. 

It was the seventh inning in Game 1 when the Dodgers grabbed their first lead of the game. It was the seventh inning again here in Game 2. What was a 0-0 score entering the seventh is now a 4-0 Dodgers lead.

After the fielder's choice grounder that plated one run, it looked like the Phillies might be able to escape the inning with the bases loaded after Andy Pages popped out in foul territory for the second out. Dodgers catcher Will Smith, though, came through with a two-RBI single to left-center. 

Smith didn't start the game, but much like in Game 1, entered as a pinch hitter and stayed in the game. He's been dealing with a bruised right hand, otherwise he'd be the full-time catcher. 

Shohei Ohtani followed with an RBI single to add another run. 

Phillies starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo was great through six innings, but came back out for the seventh inning, facing the Dodgers' lineup for the third time. He gave up a Teoscar Hernández single before a Freddie Freeman double ended his night with the Dodgers' rally then underway.