Sorry about my belated start to the live blog tonight. This is Steve bringing the updates. It's been a busy night here at the Collegian, and I'm just finding time to start watching the Phils.
Carlos Ruiz just grounded out to Derek Lowe, failing to move Greg Dobbs to third after Dobbs' leadoff double, and now Joe Blanton strides to the plate, so it looks like the Phils will need a base hit to plate Dobbs.
Blanton just fanned so it will be up to J-Roll to cash in Dobbs. Unfortunately for the Phils, Rollins strikes out and Dobbs' leadoff double is for naught.
To recap the action I missed: The Phillies scored two runs on a Chase Utley double and a Ryan Howard RBI groundout.
The Dodgers scored on a James Loney RBI single.
MIddle of the Second
Phillies 2 Dodgers 1
Bottom of the 2nd
Casey Blake leads off the second for the Dodgers, and he sends one deep but foul, and then watches strike three sail into Carlos Ruiz' mitt.
Juan Pierre singles up the middle, and I'm really psyched that the sound is turned off here in the newsroom, because I'm betting that Tim McCarver is blustering on right now about how speed changes the game so much. Yes, Juan Pierre is fast, but that doesn't make him good. He's a bad defender, he doesn't hit for power and he doesn't draw walks.
And he just got thrown out trying to steal second. See, speed doesn't kill. I'm sick of hearing how speed makes a difference in baseball.
Jimmy Rollins just dropped Derek Lowe's blooper to center, making the caught stealing loom large. I know I am probably sounding like BIlly Beane here, but I hate the idea of stealing a base. I know that it's not a bad play with the pitcher batting, but it seems like caught stealings kill innings a lot more than stolen bases help them.
Furcal flies out to end the inning.
End of the 2nd
Phillies 2 Dodgers 1
Top of the 3rd
Werth grounds out to lead off the top of the third.
Utley follows with a single, but Howard lines out to left, leaving it up to the Bat to extend to inning. He doesn't, grounding out to third baseman Blake.
Sorry for the lack of substance to my posts this inning. We're wrapping up tomorrow's agate page right now, I should be blogging at full speed soon.
Middle of the 3rd
Phillies 2 Dodgers 1
Bottom of the 3rd
Middle of the 4th
Phillies 2 Dodgers 1
Well I missed most of the bottom of the 3rd finishing up the agate page. It looks like Joe Blanton has finally figured out that pitching to Manny Ramirez is not the brightest idea though, and the strategy is working so far.
Blanton's allowed one run through three innings, allowing five hits and two walks, both to Ramirez.
Derek Lowe has looked a lot more hittable tonight than he did on Thursday, so maybe the Phillies will be able to break through again.
Blake leads off the bottom of the fourth for the Dodgers, and the former Oriole strikes out.
It might be my inner-Oriole fan talking here, but I don't understand why Blake had more trade value this past deadline than Oriole corner-infielder Aubrey Huff. I realize Blake is a superior fielder, but Huff's bat pummels Blake's. The Dodgers gave up premium catching prospect Carlos Santana for Blake, and Aubrey Huff passed through waivers without any takers. I like to think I understand baseball pretty well, but I'm still scratching my head over that one.
Juan Pierre lines out to Dobbs. I still maintain that Pierre is one of the most overrated players in the game, and the Phils should be thanking Joe Torre for playing Pierre over the multi-talented Matt Kemp.
Derek Lowe strikes out to end the inning, and Blanton has thrown four solid innings with a very respectable pitch count of 67.
End of the 4th
Phillies 2 Dodgers 1
Top of the 5th
Rollins grounds out to second to lead off the fifth.
Former Oriole farmhand Jayson Werth batting now. Werth's horrific soul patch makes me thankful that my Orioles have a facial hair ban. I really hope that Werth's rather attractive mother tells him how ridiculous that swarth of hair looks.
Werth and his soul patch line softly to second.
Bad inning for dudes with soul patches. Utley strikes out looking.
Middle of 5th
Phillies 2 Dodgers 1
Bottom of 5th
Got to take a quick break from blogging. I'll be back in a jiff with more on the game, and some stuff I found about Jayson Werth's mother.
Whew. I'm finally back. And I missed a lot. Blanton finally decided to pitch to Manny, and it was a bad call to say the least. Ramirez knotted this game up with an RBI single, and Russell Martin's RBI groundout put the Dodgers ahead. Blanton has made it through five innings, but with his pitch count sitting at 91 he won't be much longer for this game.
As I type, Chan Ho Park is throwing his warmup tosses for the Dodgers, as the Phillies have knocked Derek Lowe out of this one early again.
Pedro Feliz, pinch-hitting for Dobbs, just popped out to right, erasing any chance of a sacrifice fly in this inning. Burrell and Howard are still on second and third with 2 outs.
The Phillies have just tied this one back up, with some help from Dodgers catcher Russell Martin.
Analysts like McCarver love to rave about Martin's defensive skills, but he clearly just allowed a passed ball that allowed Howard to score from third. The ball was in the dirt, but it ricocheted off of Martin's shin guard, and should have been blocked.
Ruiz draws a walk and Geoff Jenkins will pinch hit for Blanton with runners on the corners and two out.
Joe Torre rises from the dugout and that'll be it for Park.
I promised some more on Jayson Werth's mother, and according to Wikipedia, she competed in the Olympic trials in both the 100 meters and the long jump. Pretty cool if it's true.
Joe Beimel comes on for the Dodgers and gets So Taguchi to fly out to right. Jenkins was supposed to pinch hit, but the Phils plugged Taguchi in when the Dodgers summoned Beimel. A beautiful sliding catch by Ethier saved this one from dropping in and giving the Phils the lead.
Middle of the 6th
Dodgers 3 Phillies 3
Bottom of the 6th
Casey Blake leads off again (it seems likes he's leading off every inning tonight) and he unbreaks the tie with a shot into the left field bleachers. I know I was clubbing Blake before for not being as big of a bat as my boy Aubrey Huff but he comes up big here.
The super speedy Juan Pierre just nailed a double to left, and his speed probably made the double possible, as it was cut off by Burrell. Chad Durbin is pitching for the Phils by the way.
Matt Kemp pinch hits for Beimel. Torre is really burning through his 'pen tonight. With an off-day forthcoming however, he might as well. The Dodgers have to play as if every game is an elimination game from here on out. No way do the Dodgers want to give the Phils a game at home.
Kemp walks. Manuel to the bullpen.
Scott Eyre in to face Rafael Furcal, who is showing bunt initially. This could be a big inning for the Dodgers.
Furcal drops a dandy of a bunt down the first base line, and Howard fires wide of the bag, forcing Utley, who was covering from second, off from the bag. Utley still couldn't handle the throw and it trickled into right field, allowing Pierre to score. Runners now on 2nd and 3rd with no one out for Ethier.
Once again, Howard shows what a poor defensive player he is. How long before he moves to the AL and becomes a DH?
Eyre can't afford to walk Ethier here with Manny on deck. No way do you want to face Ramirez with the bases loaded and no out.
Ethier lines out to first. Eyre to intentionally walk Ramirez. A smart move with the ice cold Russell Martin on deck.
Manuel will dip into the bullpen again. One thing to bear in mind about Russell Martin: he is probably the best running catcher in baseball. He came up through the minors as an infielder, and will not be easy to double up just because he's a catcher.
Ryan Madson in for the Phils. He takes a 1-2 lead on Martin.
Martin lines directly to Utley, who was playing close to the bag and was able to extend his glove and tag second before Furcal could get back. Huge break for the Phils. This could have been a lot worse.
End of the 6th
Dodgers 5 Phillies 3
Top of the 7th
Rollins to lead off against Dodgers' flamethrower Hong Chih Kuo. Rollins grounds out to shortstop Furcal.
Kuo then strikes out Jayson Werth. Kuo has closer-type stuff, but also has the endurance to go more than one inning here. He was tried as a starter last season, but found his place at the back end of the Dodgers' bullpen. He also was extremely helpful to my fantasy team this year, as he provided me the great ERA and WHIP of a reliever but qualified at the starting pitcher slot.
Utley waves at strike three and the Phillies go 3-up 3-down in the seventh.
Middle of the 7th
Dodgers 5 Phillies 3
Bottom of the 7th
This game has definitely had the feel of a playoff game. Both managers have used their bullpens liberally, and it is clear that neither wants to give in here. A 3-1 lead for the Phillies would be huge, while a 3-1 deficit might make the Dodgers as good as dead.
Madson stays on to face James Loney. Loney strikes out. One away for Blake DeWitt.
Madson walks DeWitt on a full count to bring up Blake. Blake raps a single to left, giving him two hits on the night. Kuo will bat here, as Torre clearly was planning to use him for more than one inning, and the way he pitched the seventh why not? I'm not going to question Torre.
Kuo lays down a gorgeous bunt to move the runners up. Kemp will bat with runners on second and third and 2 out. He can blow this one open with a base hit here.
Kemp flies out to Victorino, and the uprising is quelled. The Phillies still have a chance.
End of 7th
Dodgers 5 Phillies 3
Top of 8th
Kuo back out for another innning.
Howard leads off with a single up the middle. The Bat is now up, and Torre is out to the mound to chat with Kuo. It looked at first like he would leave Kuo in, but he's going back to the bullpen.
Former AL Rookie of the Year Angel Berroa is in at second as a defensive replacement for Blake DeWitt.
In my humble opinion, the Phils need to score here, against new pitcher Cory Wade. If the Phils don't get something going here, the bottom of the order will have to face Broxton, not a promising proposition.
Pat the Bat pops up to second. One away for Victorino, a player with sneaky power.
As I write that he has sneaky power, he literally sneaks a line drive over the right field fence to tie this baby up.
What a time for Victorino to come through. He doesn't hit a lot of home runs, but he sprays line drives like crazy, and some of them make it over the fence, just like his home run here.
After Feliz lines out to left, Ruiz rips a single, and Matt Stairs pinch hits for Madson.
Captain Hook ... er Joe Torre back to the 'pen. I said I wouldn't question Torre, but I am going to question him. He yanked Kuo after giving up the hit to Howard, which was a little quick in my estimation. Maybe I like Kuo too much, but I would have stuck with him against Burrell at least.
It looks like Jonathan Broxton is coming in to face Stairs.
After getting ahead of Broxton 3-1, Stairs just clubbed a moon shot into the right field stands here at Chavez Ravine to put the Phillies ahead. Another late-inning comeback for the Phils. I will take credit for predicting Victorino's shot, but I didn't see Ol' Man River Matt Stairs taking Broxton deep.
Rollins walks to give Jayson Werth a chance to pile on here. Rollins steals second but Werth strikes out to end the threat. But the damage is done. Phils lead this one and have a chance to get real close to locking up the pennant.
Middle of the 8th
Phillies 7 Dodgers 5
Bottom of 8th
If the Dodgers can't come back, it's not because they didn't have chances. They have left 19 runners on base, including 7 by Russell Martin and 6 by Blake DeWitt. They failed to put the Phillies away when they had the opportunity, and I think this shows the effect that having a lineup revolve around one player has. All the Phillies had to do was minimize the damage done by Manny, and despite the fact that Ramirez has reached base four times tonight, he has only driven in one run and hasn't hurt the Phils too much.
J.C. Romero on to pitch the eighth. The Phillies 'pen is now in the same spot as the Dodgers were in last inning, in need of 6 outs and protecting a 2 run lead.
Romero walks Furcal to start the inning off. And now the Dodgers' big bats are coming up. Ethier is up and Ramirez is on deck.
Ethier grounds to Rollins, who turns the double play easily. Time to pitch to Manny with no one on base and two out.
Looks like Manuel is going to bring in Lidge to face Manny.
I have to give the Phillies pitchers credit tonight. They haven't gotten Manny out, but they have minimized the damage he could do, and now he bats in the eighth and the most damage he can do is to pull the Dodgers within one.
Manny Ramirez is a baseball player. Plain and simple. He crushes a double to right center. He was hustling hard to get to second on that one, and his helmet flew off. Vintage Manny.
Luckily for the Phils. The Cooler a.k.a Russell Martin is up. He has 7 runners left on and goes for 8 here.
Russell Martin tried his best to screw this up, but Carlos Ruiz dropped strike three, which rolled away and allowed Martin to get to first, and Manny to move to third.
Runners on the corners for Loney.
Loney pops up to left, and the rally is over.
End of the 8th
Phillies 7 Dodgers 5
Top of the 9th
Utley leads this off with a single. I've just been informed that the Giants lost to the Browns, I hadn't even realized a football game was going on, I've been so engrossed by the Phils tonight.
Howard hits into a fielder's choice, can't say I've seen him lumber down the line that quickly very often. 1 away and a runner on first for the Bat.
The Bat hits into a fielder's choice of his own. That's got to be some kind of record, Howard and Burrell hitting into back-to-back fielder's choices.
Victorino up again with another chance to exact his revenge on the Dodgers.
Bruntlett, pinch-hitting for the Bat, gets thrown out on a pitch out by the Dodgers. Inning over. Time for Lidge to get three outs.
Middle of the 9th
Phillies 7 Dodgers 5
Bottom of the 9th
Nomahhh leads off pinch hitting for Berroa, and promptly flies out to center, which brings up Casey Blake, who falls behind 0-2.
Blake goes down swinging, and Lidge just needs to get pinch hitter Jeff Kent to put this one in the books.
Kent lines out to third. Ballgame.
Final Score
Phillies 7 Dodgers 5
WP: Ryan Madson
LP: Cory Wade
SV: Brad Lidge
Player of the Game: Shane Victorino. A night after being at the center of a bench-clearing skirmish between the two teams, Victorino released his anger in the form of a game-tying 2-run homer over the right field fence. Matt Stairs then clubbed another 2-run shot that gave the Phillies the lead for good.
The Phillies now have a commanding 3-1 series lead, meaning they have three games to clinch the pennant. With two of those games scheduled for the cozy confines of Citizens' Bank Park, it would take an extremely improbable comeback from the Dodgers to prevent the Phillies from playing in the Fall Classic.
Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday night at 8:22 EDT. Probable pitchers are Hamels for Philadelphia and Billingsley for L.A.
