Champs Dodgers on verge of series win

The Los Angeles Dodgers held off a late rally from the Philadelphia Phillies to snatch a 4-3 victory and take a commanding 2-0 lead in their Major League Baseball playoff series on Monday.

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The reigning World Series champions, who stunned the Phillies in Game One of the best-of-five National League Divisional Series on Saturday, can complete a sweep with a victory in Game Three at Los Angeles today.

"That was a heck of a game," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said afterwards. "Huge, huge momentum-maintainer. We're looking forward to getting back home, but great ball game, great plays and a huge win."

A tense Game Two at a deafening Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia quickly unfolded as a classic pitcher's duel, with Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo and Dodgers counterpart Blake Snell dominant from the mound.

Snell threw six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts to bamboozle the vaunted Phillies batting lineup, while Luzardo also went scoreless through six innings.

Yet as the game entered the late innings, it was Luzardo who blinked first, giving up a leadoff single to Teoscar Hernandez in the top of the seventh that was followed by a no-out double from Freddie Freeman.