Phillies Resume Postseason Dominance

It didn't go as scripted for Joe Torre's team. "It's like a prize fight, we just came up a little short," the Dodgers manager said. Their Ace, Clayton Kershaw, a mere 21 years-old, 1-hit his opponent for 4-innings, but then imploded in the 5th. By far the most innings he has ever pitched in a single season caught up with the left-hander, who reached the leagal drinking age during the season. Ibanez singled off him to start the inning, then Kershaw threw a wild pitch, followed by a walk to Feliz. The next batter may as well have been Babe Ruth, as far as the Dodgers are concerned.

Carlos Ruiz, the Phillies secret weapon against L.A., .378 vs. them from 2006-08 and a staggering 8-14 with 1 HR and 3 2B during the '09 regular season with a .714 OBP, a 1.714 OPS and a 1.000 Slugging %, literal perfection. 'Chooch' was nearly lost for the season in September when he injured both wrists. If he hadn't come back, the Phillies would be down 1-0, instead of up in this series:

After falling behind the batter 2-0, Kershaw put one up and over to Ruiz, who fouled it off. The next fastball he crushed, driving it far and deep over the left-field wall. The knockout blow came after Kershaw then walked Hamels and eventually Utley, in a terrific at-bat, to allow the Big Man to once again rise to greatness and stroke a double to right-field that proved the dagger. With that sweet swing, he eclipsed Michael Jack Schmidt as the all-time Phillies' postseason RBI leader. It was 5-1 at the time and despite the pesky Dodgers reluctance to go-away, the Champs would never look back.

"It was a long game," said the Dodger postgame anchor. "I think Ruiz needs to rest tomorrow." "Maybe they can give him the rest of the season off," added his co-anchor, wishfully.

"We do have the talent and just that sort of fight, that we're going to do everything we can to get those big hits in those big moments," said Cole Hamels.

Just like that, young Kershaw and the Dodgers postseason hopes dimmed. The Dodgers knew, when they signed starting pitcher Vicente Padillia on Aug. 19th and over-the-hill starter Jon Garland on Sept. 1st, that they didn't have the starting pitching they needed to front their top-notch bullpen. Padillia, unwanted by the rest of the league, was a released pitcher at the time. The former Phil will face Pedro, the former Dodger in game 2 of the NLCS Friday. Garland, meanwhile, was a desperation move to create some stability via veteran assuredness in a rotation distraught by the failures of season-opening ace Chad Billingsley.

Entering this NLCS against the Phillies, it was more than evident that Torre & co.s October hopes rested on the shoulders of newbie Kershaw. As great as he pitched to win the division against Colorado at the end of the regular season and as solid as he was against St. Louis' paltry lineup, Kershaw couldn't maintain his initial success against the Champs. That spells likely termination for his team, whose starting pitching was by far the most questionable of all playoff teams.

"The first four innings I felt great, and then I couldn't make adjustments fast enough. In the playoffs, you're not going to have a lot of leverage. If you don't make your pitches, before long you're out of there," Kershaw, who fell to 0-4 lifetime against the Phils, said after the game. "I just got out of the strike zone a little bit, and that's what happens. They make you pay for that."

Cole Hamels, Mr. October a year ago, put up zeros in the 3rd and 4th, when his opponent couldn't put one past the infield on him. Then, in the 5th-inning, a rare bobble by Rollins led to an Utley error with 2-out and Hamels unraveled, mentally. He shouted at his teammates, who ESPN regards as the best double-play combo in baseball and appeared more prima donna than staff ace.

The next batter was Manny Ramirez, the oft-heroic postseason wonder who was exposed this season as a long-time steroid user, furthering the black mark on this baseball era. Ramirez has more playoff home runs than anyone in baseball history, thanks in large-part to the number of games the postseason is now comprised of for sake of TV-revenue. Manny basked in the glory of his adoring fans, whose chants were worship-like when he came to bat and whose deafening "Manny" mantra reached earthquake proportions when he slaughtered a low fastball for a 3-run HR to cut the Phillies' lead to 1 at 5-4. The bases would be loaded with 2-out and a chance for the Dodgers to take the lead when J.A. Happ got Rafael Furcal to ground out to end the inning. It was a huge spot by the Rookie-of-the-Year candidate turned lefty bullpenner.

In the 7th, Andre Ethier led off with a double off of rookie Bastardo. Manuel brought Chan Ho Park into the game to replace him. Due to a hamstring injury, Park hadn't pitched for the Phillies in a month and was a last-second addition to their roster for this 2nd-round playoff series after missing round 1. He returned in a very tough spot against his former team. The 1st batter he faced was Manny Ramirez. The stadium exploded. It was time for more Manny on-field heroics, which have so often matched his off-field antics during his illustrious career. Park got 2 quick strikes on Manny, then forced him to ground out, quietly.

Next, it was fan favorite Matt Kemp. Fans across the smoggy city called it unfair nepotism when Charlie Manuel selected Jayson Werth as his final all-star player. They were certain it should've been Kemp, despite Werth's better numbers (not to mention those of Sandoval from S.F.). Werth's 2nd-half proved them wrong. Kemp stood tall, ready to plate Ethier, something he did effectively all season long.

As he had done with Ramirez, Park recorded 2 quick strikes on Kemp. Park threw ball 1. Ball 2 followed and the crowd re-energized. Ball 3. They were on their feet for the full-count pitch. Then, Park did something that postgame analysts pondered aloud if he'd ever done before: he threw what would later be deemed a 96 mile per-hour fastball. At the time, one of my Philly crew pointed to the Stadium Radar Gun sign, which clocked Park's pitch at 97 miles-per-hour. Give or take a mile, Park blew the fastball by Kemp so fast, he must have thought he was at the Grand Prix a half-hour South in Long Beach. Soundly and with apparent ease, Park had quelled any potential rally.

“Park was real good. He was throwing the heck out of the ball," said his manager after the game.

The Phillies held a slim margin most of the night, but made it stick. Every time the Dodgers mounted a comeback, the Phillies added to their lead. The Dodgers top-ranked bullpen is led by July 30th acquisition Geroge Sherrill, who posted a remarkable 0.65 earned-run average in 30 regular-season games for his new club.

In the 8th-inning, the Phillies erased all of that when Howard and Werth walked on 5 pitches apiece to lead off. Raul Ibanez was the next batter. All 14 Major League years stood before him. In his 1st playoffs ever, he showed that he was the man of the moment and that this was the moment he was waiting for. When he stroked his 3-run HR to right, my jaw dropped. The Dodger crowd, the most raucous I've ever seen from a usually placid fan base whose only knowledge of baseball is the word "Manny" and whose lone chant all evening was "Phillies suck," which both exposed their lasting torment from 2008's whipping and defined them as losers, vanished instantly and the foggy L.A. night became quiet and serene.

"I was trying not to do too much, stroke a line drive," Ibanez said. "Fortunately, I got it in the air and it carried out of the park."

It was a glorious moment for Phillies' fans-- and there were a precious few of us amidst a vast sea of blue. Dodger fans threw things at us in the mammoth bathroom lines, they taunted us throughout. The more they drank, the angrier they got. They audibly hated the Phillies with collective rants and taunts as we walked the aisles. They harassed the few of us fans who braved the dim-witted mob to support our champions and see some of the most exciting baseball I've ever witnessed.

Brad Lidge came out in the 9th. He was 2-2 in saves in round 1 of the playoffs, but was last seen at Dodger Stadium surrendering 9th inning leads on consecutive night, June 5th and 6th of this year. It was a nerve-wracking moment as he trotted to the mound. However, moments later, when he stood on the mound checking the sign from Ruiz, I had a vivid memory of watching him from my 7th row seat as he struck out the final Ray to clinch the 2008 World Series. That rekindled memory eased all tension for me, and I enjoyed the moment as Lidge got Rafael Belliard to pop-up to Rollins on the 3rd pitch to end the game.

Crucial in that inning was that despite Lidge allowing a leadoff single to Matt Kemp, an Utley-to-Rollins-to-Howard double play cleared the bases. Lidge walked the next batter to keep it interesting, but the rally-killing defense by the best infield in baseball had, once again, proved invaluable. Meanwhile, the drama-within-the-drama all season long, Brad Lidge recorded his 10th-straight successful postseason save. Many of us doubted him, and he's hardly the dominator, even now, that he was this time last year. However, he has answered his critics and shown tremendous heart.

His manager always believed in him, as did the GM, and I guess they were right. They knew Madson couldn't handle the load, as he reminded us tonight, when he got knocked around in the 8th for 4 hits and 2 runs. No signs pointed to the postseason failures of closers Ryan Franklin (St. Louis), Huston Street (Colorado) or Jonathan Papelbon (Boston). Yet, they were there on full-display this October, leading each team to early exits and a collective no wins in round 1. Then, there was Brad Lidge, 'Lights Out' Lidge, perhaps 'Lights Out' no longer, but still standing-- and this time of year, that's what counts:

"Honestly, for some reason I've really been locked in this postseason. I felt really good mechanically. I feel like myself. I feel pretty comfortable right now," Lidge remarked.

"It doesn't look good on paper, but there were a lot of times where the counts were in my favor and I kept them off-balance," Hamels accurately observed. "Unfortunately, some of the results weren't there, but in the key situations, I was able to get what I needed." Ultimately, the Phillies will need more out of their ex-ace, who has had a year barely befitting a playoff starter, let alone last year's NLCS and World Series MVP. This time, however, the bats bailed him out.

"Well, they had our number today," Dodgers catcher Russell Martin said. "Tomorrow is a different day, and last year is over with." Martin wasn't convincing. Judging from the 46,000 assembled fans, their lives had stopped a year ago, when they were favored to win the World Series after a barely relevant pit-stop with these Phillies. The Phils were happy to play the spoilers then, drubbing L.A. in a svelte 5 games (best of 7). The same Phils-- plus "Raaaauuul," the Ibanez greeting the newest fan-favorite is met with in Philly, which I bellowed above the stunned crowd when he pounded his 1st postseason HR Thursday night-- were more than merry to oblige once again, picking up right where they left off a year ago.

It was a 4:02 9-inning game, the longest in NLCS history (the Phillies and Rockies set the 9-inning NLDS length record last week). And, in the end, the World Champs made it 5 wins and 1 loss in their last 6 postseason games against the Dodgers, including 3-in-a-row at Dodger Stadium. Ultimately, when the smoke and Manny had cleared, the Phillies reigned supreme. Cole Hamels won it and Brad Lidge saved it. Neither made it look easy, but those stats-- with a tweak here and a tweak there: instead of Burrell, Ibanez did the damage, rather than vs. Saito, it was Sherrill-- remained identical to Game 1 of the 2008 NLCS: (W) Hamels and (SV) Lidge. Phillies up 1-0, home field advantage claimed.