Bottom 9th
Ibanez leads off the rally for the Phils.
He grounds out to Hudson for the first out.
Matt Stairs comes to plate for Feliz. Broxton has some bad memories of Matt Stairs from last year's NLCS, and he pitches around him. A four-pitch walk for Stairs.
Broxton hits Ruiz, and the Phils have two base runners with one out here in the ninth.
Greg Dobbs will hit for Lidge. Eric Bruntlett is on second base for Stairs.
Dobbs pops out to Blake. Two outs.
Jimmy Rollins saves the day for the Phils. A huge walk-off two RBI double. Ruiz scores the winning run. The Phillies fans around me appear to be in utter shock that Rollins came through in the clutch.
And Brad Lidge gets his first win of the year.
W: Lidge
L: Broxton
Final score
PHI 5 LAD 4
FInal thoughts:
Just a huge win for the Phillies.
If the Dodgers held on, I would have predicted the Dodgers to win the series and advance to the World Series. A Phillies win gives them a chance to clinch their second straight National League Championship at home.
A loss would have left all the pressure on the Phils, with the winner of Game 5 most likely winning the series. As it is the Phils should be advancing to the World Series yet again.
Be sure to check out the MAKE PLAYS blog once again tomorrow night at 8 as Jake Kaplan will take you through Game 4 of the ALCS.
Good night all and thanks for following along.
****
Top 9th
Scott Eyre comes in for the Phillies to try to hold the deficit at one.
Hudson flies out to Werth standing on the foul line with Howard and Utley serving as close spectators to the catch.
Furcal hits a line-drive single to center. Victorino takes a nice angle on the ball to prevent Furcal from getting more.
Brad Lidge to pitch. We'll see which Lidge shows up.
Kemp fouls Lidge's pitch off his leg but is able to finish his at-bat. Kemp strikes out, and Furcal steals second.
Lidge's 2-1 pitch to Ethier goes in the dirt, and Furcal takes third. Ethier watches strike three.
The Phillies go into the bottom of the ninth down one.
LAD 4 PHI 3
****
Bottom 8th
George Sherrill, closer for the Orioles to start the season, is on for the eighth inning. Jimmy Rollins leads off for Philladelphia.
Sherrill's full count offering to Rollins results in a ground out to Blake.
Only five outs to work with for the Phils.
Victorino gets hit by Sherrill's pitch on his back foot. Victorino is able to shake it off and jogs to first.
Utley swings at ball four, but Victorino is able to advance to second on the pitch in the dirt. And Utley's second look at ball four gives him first base.
Torre goes to mound to speak to Sherrill but he opts to keep the ball in his hands to face the dangerous Howard.
Sherrill sneaks a high fastball past Howard for out number two.
The Phillies can't afford to blow this opportunity. Two on, two out for Werth, who will face closer Jonathan Broxton who is coming in to attempt the four-out save.
A double switch by Torre means Orlando Hudson, who replaces Belliard at second, will hit in the ninth spot, and Broxton is in the sixth spot.
Werth flies out to right and the Phillies strand two in the bottom of the eighth.
After 8
LAD 4 PHI 3
****
Top 8th
Ryan Madson takes the hill for the Phils.
Madson strikes Manny out looking.
Loney hits a grounder up the middle. Utley attempts to make a tough play but is unable to field the ball cleanly, and Loney reaches on an infield single.
Madson gets the wanted ground ball out of Belliard but the Phillies are only able to get the force out at second.
Scott Eyre is warming in the pen for the Phils.
Belliard steals second. Utley did a good job blocking the base, and I think Belliard was actually out. Regardless, Martin walks and the Dodgers have runners on first and second with two outs.
Madson's two-strike fastball is tipped by Casey Blake, and Ruiz holds on for the K.
The Phillies now have 6 outs to work with to make up the one-run deficit.
LAD 4 PHI 3
****
Bottom 7th
I have to admit I'm a little surprised to see Kuo back out on the mound with three righties coming up for the Phillies.
I guess I shouldn't question the move, as Kuo has Feliz confused in a leadoff strikeout.
Ruiz grounds out to short. Kuo making quick work of these righties so far in the 7th.
Park is done for the evening as Manuel brings up Ben Francisco in the ninth spot of the order.
Phillies fans got a little excited here in the office as the ball jumped off Francisco's bat, but Ramirez makes the easy grab just shy of the warning track.
After 7
LAD 4 PHI 3
****
Top 7th
Chan Ho Park in for the Phillies to start the 7th.
Furcal grounds out to Park.
Park strikes out Kemp swinging.
The home plate umpire contiues to have an inconsistent strike zone frustrating hitters and pitchers.
Ethier walks on a pitch that looked right down the middle. Ethier even looked surprised to be granted the base.
A great throw by Ruiz catches Ethier trying to steal second for the final out. The Phils will have to deal with Manny in the eighth with a fresh count.
LAD 4 PHI 3
****
Bottom 6th
Top of the order for the Phils in the sixth.
Rollins grounds out to third.
A rip down the third baseline line for Victorino results in a stand-up triple.
Utley hits a RBI single to right field. The Phillies pull within one and score for the first time ssince the first inning.
Wolf now has a conference of his own with pitching coach Rick Honeycutt.
Howard has a good at-bat, earning a walk. The Phils have runners on first and second with one out.
Wolf's day is done. I'll be able to tell you his final line after the inning is done.
Ronald Belisario will come in for the Dodgers to face Werth.
Werth's bat shatters as the ball grounds to Blake at third. He throws to Belliard who is covering second. Howard is out, but Belliard drops the ball when transferring it to his hand to turn two. Utley is on third and Werth on first with two outs.
Here we go...another pitching change by Joe Torre. Hung-Chih Kuo to take on Ibanez.
Ibanez hits a promising line drive to left, but Manny makes a shoe-string catch to end the inning
Wolf's final line:
4 runs on 3 hits in 5.1 innings
After 6
LAD 4 PHI 3
****
Top 6th
Blanton does come out to start the sixth and face Manny.
Blanton gets Manny to ground to third, but Howard can't pick Pedro Feliz's throw in the dirt.
Ruling is error on Feliz.
Loney flies out to Ibanez.
Ronnie Belliard hits a single to shallow left-center. Rollins made a heck of an effort on the ball and appeared to be there in time but was unable to come up with the grab. Runners on first and second with one out.
Russell Martin looks at strike three. To say the least, Martin did not agree with the call. He exchanged some words with the umpire. It appeared like the ump was on the verge of tossing the Dodgers catcher.
Casey Blake hits a line drive single to shallow right, scoring Manny and advancing Belliard to third. Dodgers go up by two.
Wolf looked at what appeared to to be strike three, but the ump called a ball. On the pitch Blake took second base with a "steal." Ruiz didn't even make a throw. Wolf flies out to center for the final out.
LAD 4 PHI 2
****
Bottom 5th
Raul Ibanez flies to center for an easy out by Kemp.
Pedro Feliz fouls out to Loney.
J.A. Happ is warming in the Phils bullpen.
Carlos Ruiz walks on a close pitch that Wolf thought he had.
Charlie Manuel appears to be letting Blanton continue as he comes to the plate.
Blanton hits a chopper fielded by Furcal who steps on second for the force out.
After 5
LAD 3 PHI 2
****
Top 5th
Wolf leads off the inning for the Dodgers and will look to help his own cause.
Wolf hits a fly ball to right, Ibanez takes a few steps back and makes the grab.
Furcal grounds out to Utley.
The promising start to Blanton's attempt at a rebound inning doesn't last as Matt Kemp hits a homerun to straight away center field to take the lead. Victorino climbed the wall but the ball was out of reach.
Ethier lines out to Utley for the final out.
LAD 3 PHI 2
****
Bottom 4th
The Phillies look to regain the lead here in the fourth with Utley leading off.
Utley hits yet another flyout to Ethier.
Howard follows up his first-inning homer by looking at strike three.
Werth goes down swining and tosses his bat away in disgust.
Each pitcher has had a rocky, two-run inning and three easy innings. Wolf has responded well, and we'll see if Blanton can do the same.
After 4
LAD 2 PHI 2
****
Top 4th
Top of the order for the Dodgers here in the fourth.
Furcal leads off the inning by grounding to Howard for an easy out.
Matt Kemp becomes the first base runner for LA with a one-out walk.
Ethier drills a foul ball right at the first base umpire, and he doesn't even have to shake it off. Blanton leaves a hanger for Ethier to crush. He hit it to deep center, and Victorino made an impressive, somewhat-awkward grab at the track for the second out.
Ramirez hits a shot just inside the third baseline for a single. Kemp advances to third.
James Loney shoots a hard hit grounder into rightfield plating Kemp to put the Dodgers on the board. Ramirez advances to second.
Blanton issues a 5-pitch walk to Belliard to load the bases. Rich Dubee goes out to mound to calm down his pitcher.
Martin hits an RBI single to left to tie up the score at 2. Ibanez made a nice play to hold Loney at third. Bases still loaded.
Casey Blake hits a groundball to second, Utley throws to Howard and the Dodgers are retired.
LAD 2 PHI 2
****
Bottom 3rd
Joe Blanton hits a well-hit ball to right field but it was right at Ethier for the first out.
Ethier is getting his fair share of action in right field this evening. Rollins gives him another easy grab and there are two outs.
Good thing this one isn't a dome, the Phils are continously hitting pop ups off of Wolf. Victorino skies one to Blake in foul territory to end the inning.
After 3
PHI 2 LAD 0
****
Top 3rd
Russell Martin flies out to Jayson Werth to lead off the inning.
Jimmy Rollins fields a Casey Blake grounder and throws over to Howard for the second out of the inning.
Blanton remains perfect as his counterpart, Randy Wolf hit a sharp ground ball to Howard. Howard snagged the ball and stepped on the base for the out.
PHI 2 LAD 0
****
Welcome to the fans following Bill's coverage of the great game played in Anaheim that just wrapped up, with the Angels finally getting on the board in the ALCS. I'll do my best to keep you as entertained.
Bottom 2nd
Ibanez flies out to Manny at the warning track in left.
Pedro Feliz reached for what appeared to be ball three and hit a lazy fly ball to right, which Loney brought in.
A great play by shortstop Ronnie Belliard to barehand a grounder up the middle that appeared to be well-placed to retire Ruiz and the Phils go three up, three down in the second.
After 2
PHI 2 LAD 0
****
Top 2nd
Manny grounds out to short to lead off the top of the second.
Blanton fans Loney looking in just three pitches.
Ronnie Belliard keeps Blanton perfect through two by flying out to Ibanez in left.
PHI 2 LAD 0
****
I apologize for the late start tonight, the Yankee fans here in the office stole our TV. We didn't miss anything because Blanton shut down the Dodgers 1-2-3 in the top of the first.
Jimmy Rollins leads off the bottom of the first with a basehit to left field.
Shane Victorino hits a high towering shot to...shallow right field which was caught by Ethier. The ball was high enough for Rollins to get back to first all the way from second to avoid the double play.
Utley follows Victorino's lead and skies it to the right side, this one caught by Loney. Howard comes up with 2 outs with Rollins still on first.
Wolf's 2-1 offering to Howard appeared to be in there for a strike, but the ump disagreed and the first basemen took the 3-1 pitch over the right field wall to give the Phils a 2-0 lead.
Howard gets a curtain call after tying Lou Gehrig's major league record with 8 consecutive post season games with an RBI.
Werth flies out to Ethier to end the inning.
After 1
PHI 2 LAD 0
****
Good evening baseball fans!
Eric Book, Collegian women's tennis reporter (a slight upgrade tonight), here to take you through Game 4 of the NLCS between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Phillies hold a 2-1 lead in the series. The teams split in LA and the Phils welcomed the Dodgers to Citizens Bank Park last night by dominating the Dodgers in the most lopsided game of the 2009 playoffs with a 11-0 victory.
The Phils 11 runs came on 11 hits and Cliff Lee put out another impressive performance pitching 8 innings of shutout ball, including 10 strikeouts.
Philadelphia is looking to defeat the Dodgers for the second straight year in the NLCS.
Randy Wolf of the Dodgers will take on Joe Blanton of the Phillies here in Game 4.
Tonights starting lineups...
LA Dodgers
Raphael Furcal SS
Matt Kemp CF
Andre Ethier RF
Manny Ramirez LF
James Loney 1B
Ronnie Belliard 2B
Russell Martin C
Casey Blake 3B
Randy Wolf P
Phillies
Jimmy Rollins SS
Shane Victorino CF
Chase Utley 2B
Ryan Howard 1B
Jayson Werth RF
Raul Ibanez LF
Pedro Feliz 3B
Carlos Ruiz C
Joe Blanton P
Don't forget the Yankees and Angels are still playing so keep up with my boy "Wild Bill" Landis in the post below.
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