The best team in baseball now owns a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-5 NLDS.

Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Dodgers came from behind to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 2 of the NLDS (LAD 8, ARI 5). Los Angeles is now on the brink of advancing to the NLCS for the second successive season and the fifth time in the past 10 seasons.

The series will resume Monday night with Game 3 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Here are eight things to know about Game 2.

Goldschmidt went deep again

Game 2 was the career postseason game No. 7 for Paul Goldschmidt, and in the first inning, he hit career postseason home run No. 4. His two-run shot against Rich Hill was a no-doubter:

Goldschmidt hit a first-inning home run in the NL Wild Card Game on Wednesday, remember. America's First Baseman has not gotten many chances to swing the bat in October in his career, but when he does, he has really made it count. Four homers in seven postseason games is mighty impressive.

Ray really labored

In the NL Wild Card Game on Wednesday, the D-Backs used starter Robbie Ray in relief, and he threw 34 pitches in 2 1/3 innings. Both he and the team equated it to a side session. Roughly the same amount of throwing a pitcher usually does between starts.

Because of that, the D-Backs started Ray in Game 2 of the NLDS three days later, and he sure didn't seem to be at his best. His fastball velocity was fine, believe it or not. It seemed like it was down during the game, but the radar gun disagrees:

  • Regular season: 94.2 mph average
  • NLDS Game 2: 94.6 mph average

The big issue was command, or lack thereof. Ray did walk 71 batters in 162 innings during the regular season, so he's not known for fine control, but it was especially bad Saturday night. Ray faced 20 batters in Game 2, walking four and hitting another. Furthermore, Ray threw three wild pitches. It has been a while since someone did that in the postseason.

Ray was masterful against the Dodgers during the regular season -- he had a 2.27 ERA with 53 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings against Los Angeles in five regular-season starts -- but we didn't see that guy Saturday night. His final pitching line: 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K on 88 pitches. Ray had to work hard right from his first pitch.

The Dodgers broke it open in the fifth

Thanks to Goldschmidt's home run, the D-Backs took an early 2-0 lead in Game 2, but the Dodgers chipped away and eventually took a 3-2 lead into the fifth inning. Los Angeles scored their first run on a groundout, their second run on a wild pitch, and their third run on an infield single. Not exactly the most exciting run-scoring plays.

The Dodgers finally broke the game open in the fifth, after Ray exited and rookie reliever Jimmie Sherfy came out of the bullpen. The inning was a bit of a mess for the D-Backs. Let's recap:

  • Justin Turner hit by a pitch.
  • Cody Bellinger grounds into a fielder's choice (Turner out at second).
  • Curtis Granderson singles to right. Bellinger went to third and Granderson went to second on J.D. Martinez's throw to third.
  • Logan Forsythe lines a two-strike single to left to score Bellinger for a 4-2 lead. Forsythe then stole second.
  • Austin Barnes hooks a two-strike double to left to score Granderson and Forsythe for a 6-2 lead.
  • Yasiel Puig lines a two-strike single to left to score Barnes. Puig was then caught stealing second.
  • Kenta Maeda pops up for the third out.

Three consecutive two-strike hits turned a 3-2 game into a 7-2 game. The Dodgers took advantage of Arizona's two major weaknesses that inning: middle relief and outfield defense. Sherfy and Jorge De La Rosa couldn't stop the bleeding and Martinez made an ill-advised throw to third on Granderson's single, allowing Granderson to advance to second.

By the way, the 6-7-8 hitters in the Dodgers lineup (Forsythe, Barnes, Puig)? They went a combined 8 for 12 with a walk and 5 RBI in Game 2. The 1-2-3-4-5 hitters went a combined 4 for 21, including three strikeouts for Corey Seager and four strikeouts for Bellinger.

Morrow finally allowed a home run

Game 2 became interesting in a hurry in the seventh inning, when Jake Lamb and Ketel Marte started the frame with singles against Tony Watson. Brandon Drury sent Brandon Morrow's first pitch over the left-field wall for a three-run home run. Just like that, a 7-2 game became a 7-5 game.

Believe it or not, that was the first home run Morrow allowed all season. Yes, he did spent some time in Triple-A early in the year, but he also threw a healthy 43 2/3 innings with the Dodgers. Only three pitchers managed to throw at least 40 innings in a season with zero homers allowed from 2012-16: Wade Davis (twice), Kelvin Herrera, and Brandon League.

Puig bat-flipped a single

There are two types of baseball fans in this world: people who love Yasiel Puig and people who can't stand Yasiel Puig. If you love him, you enjoyed his fourth-inning bat flip on a flare single to center that did not score a run. If you can't stand him, you probably thought the bat flip was silly. Either way, I'm going to show it to you:

If nothing else, you can't say that man doesn't have fun playing baseball. Puig went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI in Game 2.

Jansen picked up another multi-inning save

For the fourth time in nine postseason appearances dating back to 2015, Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen recorded a save of four or more outs. He recorded five outs Saturday, to be exact. Jansen has four multi-inning saves the past three postseasons -- Indians closer Cody Allen is the only other pitcher who can make that claim -- plus he has made three other appearances longer than one inning. He has established himself as one of the top postseason closers in baseball these past few seasons. There's no doubt about it.

Hill was pumping the crowd up

Hill started Game 2 for the Dodgers and was so-so. He allowed two runs on three hits and three walks in four innings, striking out four. The D-Backs forced him to throw 78 pitches in those four innings. Once Hill exited the game, he took his cheerleader job seriously in the dugout:

Now that is going the extra mile.

The Dodgers have history on their side

In addition to being the best team in baseball during the regular season, the Dodgers have put themselves in a great position to advance to the NLDS. Teams that win the first two games of a best-of-5 series at home have gone on to win the series nearly 90 percent of the time:

Teams that take a 2-0 LDS lead regardless of venue have gone on to win the series 49 of 56 times. The last team to come back from an 0-2 deficit to win the LDS is the 2015 Blue Jays, who came back against the Rangers when Jose Bautista bat-flipped his way into postseason immortality. The D-Backs will now try to do something that has been done only seven times in the past 22 seasons.