Rob Thomson’s Questionable Decisions Backfire in Game 1’s 3-0 Squander

That one hurt.

Up 3-0, Citizens Bank Park absolutely electric, Cristopher Sanchez in control through five, and then the sixth happened. The Dodgers finally got to him for two runs, cutting the lead to one and cracking the door open.

Instead of slamming it shut, the Phillies opened it wider. A 5-3 loss that felt bigger, most importantly, it felt self-inflicted.

Rob Thomson’s résumé is real. Since 2022, he’s led three straight October runs and stacked wins. But the recent trend is ugly. Counting back to the 2023 NLCS, the Phillies are 2-8 in their last 10 postseason games, including Saturday night. That’s a pattern that must be fixed, not defended or ignored — especially in a short series. I’m starting to wonder if October might be Thomson’s kryptonite.

In the past, it has been Dave Roberts who got out-managed in the playoffs, but Saturday, it was Thomson who got out-dueled.

My first question is why David Robertson came back out for the seventh. He put out the fire in the sixth, sure, but he’s 40 years old, and that was an up-down in a pressure inning, the bullpen is fresh after a long rest, and the Phillies were off the next day. Everyone in the park felt the momentum shift when Thomson stayed with Robertson, who immediately put traffic on via a base hit from Andy Pages, and Will Smith getting hit by a pitch. That’s where the game started to slip.

Then came the matchup choice after Robertson. With two right-handed bats in the mix before Shohei Ohtani, Thomson turned the ball over to Matt Strahm. The thinking was clear: get the Ohtani in a left-on-left matchup and survive; instead, the inning spiraled. Strahm did get Ohtani out, but Teoscar Hernandez erased the lead with one swing. A heater up. Ballgame.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers managed as if it were October and labels meant nothing. Roberts turned to Tyler Glasnow, who they have penciled in as a game 4 starter, then let Roki Sasaki slam the door shut in the 9th. Two starters came in to silence any chance of the Phillies making noise late in the game. They chased leverage, not roles. That’s how Roberts stole the final innings, going with who he has in the moment.

The top of the Phillies’ lineup didn’t help. The first four hitters went a combined 1-for-14. The Phillies’ thunder came from the bottom of the lineup; game 2 can’t look like that. Not against Blake Snell, not in this series.

The Dodgers are doing whatever it takes to win. It doesn’t feel like that long ago, because it wasn’t, that J.T. Realmuto was in LA, drenched in beer and champagne, passionately saying “Whatever the hell it takes”.

I want to suggest that Thomson go and watch that again. Saturday night was not an example of what he was talking about. Realmuto was doing whatever it takes, a 34-year-old catcher, who was in the top 5 for innings caught and struggling to end the season, legging out a 2-run triple is whatever the hell it takes.

And then the gut punch. Harrison Bader, the spark plug this clubhouse has leaned on for two months, left in the seventh with groin tightness. He’d already driven in a run and made a run-saving catch. If he’s limited, it reshapes the Phillies’ defense and their edge for the series. The update will come after imaging, but it’s now a real subplot to this series.

None of this erases Sanchez’s gem in a pressure-packed game. He gave you enough to win. Eight strikeouts and shoving until the sixth. The blueprint was there; get 6 innings from Sanchez, use leverage to build a bridge to Jhoan Duran in the 9th, with clean matchups and a rested bullpen. Instead, the bridge collapsed.

Thomson’s past performance in postseasons, including the magical World Series run, feels like forever ago. He’s done well leading up to October, but he has to wear this one. He put Robertson in a bad situation; he chose Strahm for fear of Ohtani, who was off all game. I get it, Ohtani is so dangerous that it just takes one pitch to get him rolling, but he got out-managed by Roberts Saturday, plain and simple.

That cannot be repeated on Monday, when Jesus Luzardo gets the ball. The urgency has to match the moment. No role worship, no trust falls, and he has to see that the momentum is slipping away and adjust accordingly. He has to push the right buttons, even if they’re uncomfortable.

The series is still there, but the timing window closes fast, so it’s time to manage like it. Game 2 is the test to see what the Phillies and Thomson are made of. Game 1 wasn’t just a loss, it was a warning. Follow Realmuto here. October baseball is “Whatever the hell it takes” season, and with a day off Sunday, there can’t be another game like Saturday. Use anyone you have to, because Monday is about as much of a must-win as any non-elimination game can be.

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