Shohei Ohtani's performance in the series has been disappointing; Dodgers manager Roberts said his swing decisions were poor.

In Game 3 of the MLB National League Division Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers were defeated 2-8 at home by the Philadelphia Phillies on the 9th, with the opponent tying the series. The Dodgers' star Shohei Ohtani had a poor batting performance, and manager Dave Roberts acknowledged, "His swing choices were not good."

In this game, Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto was broken down by the Philadelphia offense, and the Dodgers' own batting lineup failed to respond effectively. They managed only one hit in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position, which came at a moment irrelevant to the final outcome. Roberts said after the game, "We actually had a chance to score first in the opening inning but couldn't capitalize. Then they brought in Ranger Suárez, and although Tommy Edman hit a solo homer immediately, our offense couldn't string hits together after that. His cutter, sinker, and changeup were very effective, and we couldn't create much threat. He pitched really well tonight."

Notably, Shohei Ohtani has been extremely underwhelming in the first three games of the series, recording only one hit in 14 at-bats and striking out seven times. Roberts believes, "Left-handed pitching is only part of the issue; more so, his swing decisions were too rushed, and he didn't give himself the chance to wait for a mistake pitch."

Regarding the pitching staff's performance, after giving up three runs in the top of the fourth inning, the Dodgers were still trailing by only two runs. The Phillies missed several scoring opportunities in the middle innings, but the top of the eighth became the turning point. Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto hit a solo home run off Clayton Kershaw to extend the lead, and Philadelphia then scored five runs in that inning to seal the victory.

Roberts commented on Kershaw’s outing after the game: "His slider wasn’t very effective today, and he often fell behind in the count with control issues." However, he remained optimistic, saying, "I still have confidence in our current situation, and this loss is already behind us."