LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are mired in the same kind of postseason slump that wrecked the Los Angeles Dodgers two years ago.
Back then, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts were a combined 1 for 21 as the Dodgers were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 NL Division Series. Their lone hit was an infield single by Freeman.
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Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts walks across the field during practice Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, the day before Game 3 of baseball's National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Philadelphia Phillies' Trea Turner works out during practice Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, the day before Game 3 of baseball's National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman takes batting practice during practice Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, the day before Game 3 of baseball's National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, left, talks with Mookie Betts during practice Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, the day before Game 3 of baseball's National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Harper and Schwarber are 1 for 15 with eight strikeouts, putting the Philadelphia Phillies on the brink of elimination. They trail 2-0 in the best-of-five NLDS with Game 3 on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
“I think the postseason you’ve got to flush as quick as possible because any at-bat can change the course of a game or change the course of a series,” Harper said Tuesday.
Betts remembers the frustration he felt knowing how much the Dodgers were counting on him and Freeman, but nothing they tried made a difference.
“When you get in that rut and it seems like it’s quicksand, it's tough,” Betts said. “Hell, I didn’t get out of it, so I have no advice or anything. Good luck to those guys and we’ll see if they have the answer.”
Only two teams have ever come back from a 2-0 deficit in the NLDS.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson was bench coach for the New York Yankees in 2017, when they rallied from a 2-0 deficit against the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS to win and advance to the AL Championship Series.
“You’ve got to slow things down — one inning at a time, really, and come out and relax and be yourselves," Thomson said. “Don’t try to do too much.”
Betts is not discounting the Phillies.
“They got on the plane with full intentions of going back for a Game 5,” he said. “We’ve got to be able to withstand the punches that they’re going to throw and be able to throw some back.”
The Dodgers successfully executed a defensive wheel play in the bottom of the ninth Monday.
With Nick Castellanos on second, third baseman Max Muncy rushed home plate to field a bunt by Bryson Stott, turned and perfectly threw to shortstop Betts, who was covering third. Betts got the out while being upended by a sliding Castellanos.
“It's such a basic play,” Betts said. “It would be like the Lakers. They won the NBA championship running the 2-3 zone. That's how I view it. It's just we ran it in a big spot and we were able to do it right. We executed it really perfectly myself, just the timing of it.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wasn't surprised at Betts' execution of the play named for the wheel-like rotation of the infielders.
“I think that especially as an outfielder for the most part of his career to then come into the infield, he’s got a lot of feel,” the manager said. “He’s got a lot of belief in his ability. He made a great play, a really, really great play.”
Even Thomson had to concede the Dodgers' aggression paid off.
“Mookie Betts did a heck of a job by breaking very late so the hitter can’t adjust to the slash,” he said. “It’s tough for Nick to get a proper secondary or bigger secondary because Betts is sitting right behind him. It was a good play.”
Phillies center fielder Harrison Bader will be a game-time decision Wednesday.
He left Game 1 early with a groin injury and came off the bench in Game 2 to deliver a pinch-hit single during the Phillies' ninth-inning rally.
“He said he feels a little bit better today,” Thomson said.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith also is a game-time decision, although Roberts said he feels “more confident” that Smith will be able to start. Smith came off the bench Monday and hit a crucial two-run single in the seventh. He's been nursing a hand injury since last month.
Dodgers backup shortstop Miguel Rojas left Game 2 with hamstring tightness, aggravating an injury that had been bothering him recently. He won't be in the lineup Wednesday.
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Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts walks across the field during practice Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, the day before Game 3 of baseball's National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Philadelphia Phillies' Trea Turner works out during practice Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, the day before Game 3 of baseball's National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman takes batting practice during practice Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, the day before Game 3 of baseball's National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, left, talks with Mookie Betts during practice Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Los Angeles, the day before Game 3 of baseball's National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Troops from several European countries continued to arrive in Greenland on Thursday in a show of support for Denmark as talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. highlighted “fundamental disagreement” over the future of the Arctic island.
Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland on Wednesday as foreign ministers from Denmark and Greenland were preparing to meet with White House representatives in Washington. Several European partners — including France, Germany, the U.K., Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands — started sending symbolic numbers of troops already on Wednesday or promised to do so in the following days.
The troop movements were intended to portray unity among Europeans and send a signal to President Donald Trump that an American takeover of Greenland is not necessary as NATO together can safeguard the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest.
“The first French military elements are already en route” and “others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Nuuk for a military exercise.
Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel to Greenland on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said.
On Thursday, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several NATO countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, flanked by his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with Trump after they held highly anticipated talks at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rasmussen added that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland” but that dialogue with the U.S. would continue at a high level over the following weeks.
Inhabitants of Greenland and Denmark reacted with anxiety but also some relief that negotiations with the U.S. would go on and European support was becoming visible.
Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed the continuation of “dialogue and diplomacy.”
“Greenland is not for sale,” he said Thursday. “Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed from the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States.”
In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, local residents told The Associated Press they were glad the first meeting between Greenlandic, Danish and American officials had taken place but suggested it left more questions than answers.
Several people said they viewed Denmark’s decision to send more troops, and promises of support from other NATO allies, as protection against possible U.S. military action. But European military officials have not suggested the goal is to deter a U.S. move against the island.
Maya Martinsen, 21, said it was “comforting to know that the Nordic countries are sending reinforcements” because Greenland is a part of Denmark and NATO.
The dispute, she said, is not about “national security” but rather about “the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”
On Wednesday, Poulsen announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic “in close cooperation with our allies,” calling it a necessity in a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”
“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said.
Asked whether the European troop movements were coordinated with NATO or what role the U.S.-led military alliance might play in the exercises, NATO referred all questions to the Danish authorities. However, NATO is currently studying ways to bolster security in the Arctic.
The Russian embassy in Brussels on Thursday lambasted what it called the West's “bellicose plans” in response to “phantom threats that they generate themselves”. It said the planned military actions were part of an “anti-Russian and anti-Chinese agenda” by NATO.
“Russia has consistently maintained that the Arctic should remain a territory of peace, dialogue and equal cooperation," the embassy said.
Rasmussen announced the creation of a working group with the Americans to discuss ways to work through differences.
“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said.
Commenting on the outcome of the Washington meeting on Thursday, Poulsen said the working group was “better than no working group” and “a step in the right direction.” He added nevertheless that the dialogue with the U.S. did not mean “the danger has passed.”
Speaking on Thursday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the American ambition to take over Greenland remains intact despite the Washington meeting, but she welcomed the creation of the working group.
The most important thing for Greenlanders is that they were directly represented at the meeting in the White House and that “the diplomatic dialogue has begun now,” Juno Berthelsen, a lawmaker for the pro-independence Naleraq opposition party, told AP.
A relationship with the U.S. is beneficial for Greenlanders and Americans and is “vital to the security and stability of the Arctic and the Western Alliance,” Berthelsen said. He suggested the U.S. could be involved in the creation of a coastguard for Greenland, providing funding and creating jobs for local people who can help to patrol the Arctic.
Line McGee, 38, from Copenhagen, told AP that she was glad to see some diplomatic progress. “I don’t think the threat has gone away,” she said. “But I feel slightly better than I did yesterday.”
Trump, in his Oval Office meeting with reporters, said: “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.”
Niemann reported from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Ciobanu from Warsaw, Poland.
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
People walk on a street in Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
From center to right, Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, Denmark's Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen, rear, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, right, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with senators from the Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
An Airbus A400M transport aircraft of the German Air Force taxis over the grounds at Wunstorf Air Base in the Hanover region, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 as troops from NATO countries, including France and Germany, are arriving in Greenland to boost security. (Moritz Frankenberg/dpa via AP)
Fishermen load fishing lines into a boat in the harbor of Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, left, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with members of the Senate Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
