Phillies' Game 4 starter makes NLDS comeback feel even more probable

With their backs against the wall, their powder blues the only uniforms that they packed, and an approach for both their bats and pitchers to attack with the first pitch, the Philadelphia Phillies began to fight back against the NL West goliath Los Angeles Dodgers. An 8-2 Game 3 win forced the NLDS to a Game 4 out in LA, and the Phillies will have Cristopher Sánchez on the mound in the biggest game of the year.

During Wednesday night's broadcast, announcers reported that the probable starters for tonight's game would closely resemble those of Game 1. The Dodgers will start their 6-foot-8 right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who relieved Shohei Ohtani in Game 1.

For Philadelphia, the decision was between Cy Young candidate Cristopher Sánchez and last year's key winter acquisition Jesús Luzardo. The Phillies entrusted Sánchez, their emerging ace, with the Game 1 nod and the deeply superstitious Luzardo with Game 2.

Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez ready to give it all he's got for Game 4 of the NLDS

Coming off a stellar regular season, Sánchez really stepped up after the announcement that Zack Wheeler, the team's veteran backbone of the pitching rotation, would miss the remainder of the 2025 season to undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery.

While the Phillies' bullpen shockingly didn't support Sánchez, nor did the bats after the sixth inning, in Game 1, he was incredible throughout his first start, striking out eight in his 5 2/3 innings. The bats certainly betrayed him, but when manager Rob Thomson put Matt Strahm in the eighth inning against the right-handed powerhouse that is Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernández it was a narrative written against the Phillies from the jump.

However, after Wednesday's Game 3 win, it seems the Phillies could flip the script. Anyone watching the 8-2 win last night could see that the momentum fueling this team is different. Looking like the 1980 World Series team on the precipice of clinching the National League Pennant, the Phillies' bats came alive, and both Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez dazzled on the mound.

That momentum can and is expected to significantly impact tonight's game, with the same electricity on the mound from Sánchez. He completed the 2025 regular season with a 13-5 record, a 2.50 ERA and a career-high 212 strikeouts. If he and his changeup perform like he did during the regular season, then FanGraphs' projected 49.5 percent chance of winning on Thursday should shoot to 100.

According to MLB's Matt Kelly, there have only been two teams in the history of the NLDS best-of-five format to come back from an 0-2 deficit: the 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers and the 2012 San Francisco Giants. If there were ever a team that could overcome that adversity, it's the group we saw playing together last night. Let's see if Sánchez and the Phillies can force a Game 5!