Overview

• The defending champions eliminated the Reds 2-0 with an 8-4 Game 2 win and will open the NLDS in Philadelphia on Saturday night.
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out nine over 6.2 innings and escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam to preserve a 3-2 lead.
• Mookie Betts went 4-for-5 with three doubles and three RBIs, while Teoscar Hernández added a two-run double in the sixth.
• Dave Roberts started Blake Snell in Game 1 and Yamamoto in Game 2, used Ohtani only as DH, and left Clayton Kershaw off the Wild-Card roster with activation expected only for the NLDS.
• Postgame analysis flagged late-inning relief as a concern even as Roki Sasaki closed Game 2, and elsewhere the Yankees, Guardians and Padres forced decisive Game 3s.