NL DIVISION SERIES: DODGERS VS PHILLIES

October 8, 2025

Kyle Schwarber

Dodger Stadium

Philadelphia Phillies

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Phillies - 8, Dodgers - 2

Q. I know the first two games didn't go the way you wanted personally or for the team. You kept saying, I'm fine, I'm fine. (Indiscernible). How good did that one feel in the fourth inning? The team's got no hits and you give them a big one and even the score.

KYLE SCHWARBER: It felt good, right? Hits are great. Guys on base, great, anything like that, any sort of pressure. And when you get an instant run right there, especially, you're able to answer back there.

Ranger comes in, gives up the home run. But he settled right in after that, which is awesome. I think Noles too, did a phenomenal job for us. Just the way that we lined it out, it worked out.

To get the answer back and for us to keeping those at-bats going. Like I said, Bryce, big at-bat. Goes first to third, aggressive play, puts the pressure on them. Going to be bang, bang, and kicks off, goes into the dugout, run scores, (indiscernible) the third. And Marsh gets the sac fly.

Those are all big, key things for us as we keep moving forward going into tomorrow, that we want to keep pressure on any way possible. And I felt like we kept that going through the game.

I didn't get the job done there against Banda but we felt like we had the highest pressure pitches going. Like we said, Ranger did a fantastic job. Kept everyone right there for us to eventually crack through and have a beginning.

Q. You passed Bernie Williams on the postseason home run list; you're third all-time. A, what does that mean to you? And, B, a handful of those have gone 450-plus feet. Is there something about playing in the playoffs that just take it to another level?

KYLE SCHWARBER: I don't know. I've been very fortunate being in a lot of postseason games in my career. And it's just the best form of baseball. I sincerely believe that it doesn't matter, like I said, you could be hitting .100 or be hitting .500. Did you win the game at the end of the day? That's all that matters.

That's why it's such a fun format. You're just grinding, trying to find a way to win a baseball game. And it's going to work out and sometimes, and it's not going to work out. But at the end of the day, the preparation is still going to be there. The intensity is going to be there. And the buy-in from everyone is going to be there.

Q. With the frustrations that were around the team the first two games, whether it's you or anybody else, hitting that home run, do you feel like that was almost a sigh of relief for the team, like, okay, now we can go out there and do our thing?

KYLE SCHWARBER: I mean, I think just trying to get back and respond there after they score a run is a big thing for us. I feel like we've done a really good job throughout the course of my time here that I feel like that we did a really good job of responding whenever something goes against us. And you can even look back at the first couple of games, that we were in striking distance every single time.

Obviously there in the ninth inning too in Game 2, we were responding. That's something we have a knack for here. That's something that's never going to leave us. We have to keep that same feeling, that same fight, but it's just nice to get the answer back and then obviously another great at-bat and we just kept it going.

Q. I know it only counts for one run, whether it lands in the first row or goes 455 feet. But when you hit that ball, everybody in the stadium goes "whoa, I can't believe how far it goes." What's your reaction when you see the ball travel like that?

KYLE SCHWARBER: I mean, when I hit it, I know it's a home run. I didn't even see where it landed. I was looking in the dugout trying to get the guys going, get back in the dugout, everyone is high-fiving. And I knew I hit it good. I didn't know where it went. Eventually somebody tells me. You watch it on video where it goes.

I was just more focused on our guys there. I don't care. Like you said, it could go in the first row, it could hit the freakin' -- that board right there. I don't care. But hits are great, homers are great, walks are great, anything positive for our offense is going to be great. But, yeah, it was a cool moment.

Q. The pitching plan tonight was a little unorthodox but obviously very successful. From your perspective, like how did you see it? With Nola going just those first two, just being really strong, and Ranger was like ice.

KYLE SCHWARBER: Yeah, I mean, it was, wow, I'm looking around and Noles is doing his thing and you see him start giving the handshakes.

We've got our game plan, right, and we're going to stick to our guns and we're going to go with our game plan. And I'm like, this man is throwing the ball so well. But I think maybe if he gets another shot at this, he'll do the same thing for us. He's been so big for us over the last three-plus years in the postseason now that he's not going to be fazed by any moment.

And like you said, Ranger, he's done so many different positive things for us in the postseason coming out of the bullpen in the postseason and closing out an NLCS game. And obviously had big starts for us. Got us deep in the games, and then he comes out of the bullpen tonight and you think -- the natural reaction to think is after a first pitch home run that someone is going to be rattled.

He was just able to keep his composure like he always does and just executed pitches the whole night. You can't say enough about what -- even both staffs. I mean, our staff has been doing a fantastic job going out there, making it tough to get something going.

So has their staff, right? It's been a heavyweight battle of two starting pitching staffs out there. We know what the battle is going to be. We know it's not going to be easy.

But like Trea said, we have the guys to do this, and we're going to keep fighting and scratching and clawing for anything that we can get.

Q. Your whole career has been like during the blossoming of analytics. You've seen a lot of weird things. You've had a lot of managers. What does it say -- have you seen anything as strange as what you saw tonight from the pitching aspect, and what does it say about Rob Thomson that he's willing to do that in a must-win game because that's just the way he feels it should be?

KYLE SCHWARBER: Yeah, I've seen a lot of different things in the postseason. Heck, I mean, in Chicago I've seen Travis Wood go from the mound to going out to left field and making a sick catch in the ivy and coming back in the game and pitching.

I've seen a lot of different things. Like I said, we had our game plan. That was our game plan. We stuck with our guns. We knew that we wanted to get Noles out there and set the tone, and he was able to do that for two innings. And Ranger comes in and we know Ranger's a weapon for us. So we're going to deploy all weapons at any time. These are obviously must-win games. There's going to be no bullets being left. We're going to use everything that we have to try to win baseball games here because it's win or go home.

So we did it. It worked out. And that's how it should be. It is what it is. But like I said, I hope Noles gets another shot at this because, like I said, he's been so huge about us.

Q. What does it say about Rob that he's going to do something this unorthodox in this moment?

KYLE SCHWARBER: I think it shows that he's going to be doing anything that he feels like is going to be the right move to win a baseball game. And for how unorthodox it is, yeah, right, you want your starter to go out there and give you seven innings; but also, too, we have two guys who are two very quality starters. So we wanted to make sure that both these guys go out there and they do their thing.

And it worked. And I don't know what's ahead of us. I know we've got Sanchy going tomorrow. It's going to be exciting. They have another really good starter going tomorrow. You never know what you'll see in a postseason baseball game, but you just have to make sure you go out there play great defense, take great at-bats, 27 outs, and go from there.

Q. Were you surprised that you got a second look at Clayton Kershaw, and how much did that second look you think helped you in that at-bat?

KYLE SCHWARBER: I mean, I've faced Kersh for years now. I mean, he's undoubtably probably the top, I don't know how many, starting pitchers in baseball. This guy's going to be in the Hall of Fame.

I have a lot of respect for Clayton and for how he goes about his business, and I know that he's going to be leaving baseball after this year. So just from all of us and the opposing side, we all have a ton of respect for him, obviously, first off.

But, yeah, I mean, having those at-bats and seeing him, right, that it's always nice to have a recent familiarity, I guess, of seeing pitches. So I think I didn't see a fastball there the first at-bat. I think it was mostly all sliders and a curveball.

And he does kind of miss with the fastball middle in, and I was able to get it and snuck it just out enough.

But like I said, he's always a unique guy with unique pitches. And so anytime you get to see him back-to-back times, I think that can be beneficial.