LOS ANGELES (Interstat) — In a taut, nerve-shredding contest defined by dominant pitching and a final, crushing error, the Los Angeles Dodgers seized a pivotal victory in the National League Division Series on Thursday night, edging the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 in 11 innings before a sold-out crowd of 50,563 at Dodger Stadium.

The win, secured in a fashion both dramatic and unceremonious, gives the Dodgers a two-games-to-one lead in the best-of-five playoff series.

For the first six innings, the game was a masterclass in starting pitching, a scoreless duel between the Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow and the Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez. Both hurlers were virtually untouchable, rendering the potent lineups on either side helpless.

Glasnow was magnificent, overpowering Philadelphia batters over six shutout innings. He allowed just two hits and struck out eight, weaving his way through the Phillies’ order with a devastating mix of high-velocity fastballs and biting breaking balls. The Phillies’ only early threat came in the first inning when Kyle Schwarber laced a double, but Glasnow stranded him at third base to end the frame.

Sánchez was every bit his equal, matching zeroes with the Dodgers’ ace. Over 6 1/3 stellar innings, he limited Los Angeles to five hits and one earned run, striking out five. He navigated traffic effectively, inducing a key double play in the second inning and escaping a jam in the sixth after the Dodgers put two runners on with one out.

The deadlock was finally broken in the top of the seventh. Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto led off with a single against reliever Emmet Sheehan. Max Kepler then grounded into a forceout, but a critical fielding error by Sheehan on the play allowed Kepler to advance to second base. Nick Castellanos, who had been quiet to that point, made the mistake count, driving a sharp ground-ball double down the left-field line to score Kepler and give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.

The advantage was short-lived. Sánchez returned for the bottom of the seventh but was lifted after a walk to Alex Call and a single by Enrique Hernández. Phillies manager turned to flame-throwing reliever Jhoan Duran, who nearly escaped the inherited mess. After a groundout advanced both runners, Duran intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to load the bases for Mookie Betts. The strategy backfired, as Betts worked a bases-loaded walk to force in the tying run. Duran then struck out Teoscar Hernández to limit the damage, but the game was knotted at 1-1.

From there, the contest evolved into a battle of the bullpens, with both sides deploying their highest-leverage arms to keep the game deadlocked. For the Dodgers, Roki Sasaki was brilliant, firing three perfect innings of relief with two strikeouts, extinguishing any Phillies momentum.

Philadelphia’s relief corps was equally formidable. After Duran’s high-wire act, Matt Strahm and Jesús Luzardo combined for 2 2/3 scoreless innings, with Luzardo striking out three. The Phillies’ offense, however, could muster nothing against the Dodgers’ bullpen, managing just four hits total in the game.

The Phillies squandered a prime opportunity in the top of the 11th. After Bryce Harper worked a two-out walk against winning pitcher Alex Vesia, Alec Bohm lined out sharply to center field, stranding the potential go-ahead run.

The bottom of the 11th began ominously for the Phillies, as Luzardo struck out Freddie Freeman. But Tommy Edman kept the inning alive with a single. After Will Smith lined out, Max Muncy singled, moving pinch-runner Hyeseong Kim to third. Luzardo then walked Enrique Hernández to load the bases, bringing rookie Orion Kerkering into the game to face Andy Pages.

On Kerkering’s first pitch, Pages hit a chopper back to the mound. In a moment of playoff heartbreak for Philadelphia, Kerkering failed to field the ball cleanly, committing a costly fielding error that allowed Kim to race home with the winning run, sending the Dodger Stadium crowd into a frenzy.

Vesia earned the win with a scoreless inning of work, while Luzardo, who was charged with the unearned run in the 11th, was saddled with the tough-luck loss.

The victory defied pregame projections, which had heavily favored a high-scoring affair. The combined three runs fell far short of the over/under line of 7.5, a testament to the exceptional pitching on display throughout the night.

With their season on the line, the Phillies will now look to stave off elimination in Game 4 on Saturday in Philadelphia. The Dodgers, meanwhile, are one win away from advancing to the National League Championship Series, their path forged by a pitching staff that rose to the occasion and an opponent’s final, fateful mistake.