By this point, Philadelphia Phillies fans have had almost a full 48 hours to cope with the devastating loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday. For many, it likely hasn't gotten any easier and feels just as horrible as it did on Saturday night.
The Phillies managed to cough up a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning, losing 5-3 after Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernández's three-run home run turned the tide. Not that it will make Phillies fans feel any better after going down 1-0 in the best-of-five series, but that loss was not a normal playoff loss for the Phillies franchise.
Phillies’ NLDS Game 1 loss to Dodgers was 32 years in the making
In fact, according to The Athletic's Jayson Stark, that was the first time since 1993 that the Phillies have lost a playoff game at home after taking a lead of three or more runs into the sixth inning. Before Saturday, taking a lead into the sixth in home playoff games had resulted in 19 Phillies wins and one loss. Now that's two losses, with 32 years separating them.
The last time it happened was the 1993 World Series when the Phillies lost the marathon Game 4 to the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 15-14. They carried a 12-7 lead into the sixth inning in that one at Veterans Stadium before the Blue Jays stormed back to take it to extra innings, resulting in a Phillies loss after four hours and 14 minutes.
Before last night happened, the Phillies had played 20 postseason games in Philadelphia where they took a lead of 3+ innings into the 6th inning.
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) October 5, 2025
Their record in those games was 19-1, with the fabled 15-14 game in the ‘93 World Series as the only loss.
Now…make that 19-2
Phillies fans were having a great time at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday for the first five innings. Starter Christopher Sánchez dominated the Dodgers lineup, announcing himself as an ace on the national stage.
After the Dodgers tagged Sánchez for the pair of runs in the sixth, David Robertson and Matt Strahm combined to do the rest. The result was Hernández's eventual game-winning homer in the seventh.
The way the Phillies lost this one to the Dodgers obviously brought up bad memories of last year's Game 1 meltdown by the bullpen. In that one, Zack Wheeler stymied the New York Mets for seven innings, leaving with a 1-0 lead. Phillies relievers got mangled by Mets hitters for six runs in two innings.
Whether up by three runs or one, any blown lead, especially in the postseason, feels devastating.
Heading into Game 2 on Monday, the Phillies have now lost four of their last five postseason home games at The Bank, dating back to the final two games of the 2023 NLCS. They'll need to break that skid to even the series before heading to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday. Let's hope that one isn't an elimination game.