Phillies Phabulous

Citizens Bank Park was bouncing with bliss behind Jimmy Rollins Monday night. The City of Brotherly Love sent a sellout 46,157 crowd, furiously waving white towels, home happy. The All-Star Phillies shortstop served the ball up the alley with two down in the ninth inning against Jonathan Broxton and the L.A. Dodgers. The ball split the Dodger outfielders in the gap. The squirt up the middle was good for a double, and a Philadelphia victory. Broxton, susceptible to squandering leads, started to unravel when he walked 41 year old, pinch-hitter Matt Stairs on four pitches. The closer proceeded by hitting Carlos Ruiz to set up Rollins’ game-winner. The struggling slugger got off his 3-for-18 series snide by striking a 99 mph heater into the outfield. L.A. lost a heart-breaking game 5-4 and is now in a 3-1 series deficit. Wednesday night is all hands on deck for the Dodgers because there is no tomorrow if they lose again. In Philadelphia, Rollins is the toast of the town as the city is one win away from another Fall classic appearance.
The defending champion Phillies were an even-keeled crew, scoring immediately in their first at-bats. Joe Torre’s California club climbed into a hole in the bottom of the first. The Phillies scored a pair of runs off starter, Randy Wolf in the initial frame. Strongman Ryan Howard’s two-run shot in the first gave the first baseman eight straight post-season games with an RBI to tie the great Yankee, Lou Gehrig. The Dodgers notched the game at two with a three-hit fourth inning. James Loney singled to right field to synthesize the first L.A. RBI. Manny Ramirez scored later on a Russell Martin base hit.
The Dodgers registered a run in each of the top of the fifth and sixth innings to increase their lead by two. Matt Kemp hit an exhilarating solo homerun in the fifth after being ahead in the count 2-0 off Philadelphia hurler Joe Blanton. Casey Blake drove Ramirez home in the sixth after the controversial, quirky Manny reached on an error. The Dodgers had a chance to pack on the runs with runners on second and third, but Wolf flied out to Shane Victorino to end the inning. L.A. gave back a run in the bottom half of the sixth courtesy of Victorino. The flying-Hawaiian tripled to left-field and scored on Chase Utley’s single. The Dodger advantage was preserved on a shoe-tops catch by a notoriously-awful fielding Ramirez. Hong-Chin Kuo was summoned from the L.A. bullpen and worked through a small jam following reliever, Ronnie Bellasario. Kuo retired the only batter he faced in the sixth, Raul Ibanez, when Ramirez snagged the fly fantastically.
Both NL teams walked away from the seventh and eighth innings scoreless. The strength of the Dodgers is their bullpen, and L.A. backed it up until the final frame last night. Reliever, George Sherrill and closer Broxton combined to put down a one-out threat with two runners on in the eighth. Howard was fanned by Sherrill after Utley drew a walk. Broxton induced Jayson Werth into flying out to right field. L.A. looked less than lazy against the lights-out duo, Scott Eyre and Brad Lidge in the top of the ninth. However, their punch wasn’t enough to break a tie ball game on the road. Raphael Furcal fought off Eyre’s fire to muster out a one-out single. Furcal stole second and scampered to third on Lidge’s wild pitch. Lidge recovered in time and settled down to strike out Andre Ethier.
The bullpen that was supposed to save the Dodgers and give the offense a chance to win the game in extra innings did not come through Monday night. The pitching is under much scrutiny because things are not working out for them this post-season. Seasoned Dodger fans were probably sick after the skittish Broxton coughed up the game. Broxton was able to get the leadoff out, but walked Stairs and hit Ruiz to give Philadelphia the slight but significant edge they needed. Stairs, a veteran Canadian, was the hero of last October when he propelled his team past L.A. to send the Phillies to the World Series. Now the Dodgers are on the cusp of being eliminated. Broxton bears the brunt of this bitter defeat. The Dodgers need two victories in a row to have a shot at the NL pennant. They cannot afford to be anything but perfect against a team that has the will to put the hammer down. The uphill battle begins tomorrow when last year’s MVP Cole Hamels faces likely starter, Clayton Kershaw for L.A. The Dodgers are not as focused as they should be. Maybe they are too loose and need to find their intensity. Their patience at the plate is one positive to take from game four’s loss. The Dodgers have the lineup capable of deep blasts, but they need to manufacture earned runs. They cannot rely on a Phillies’ breakdown and need to shake things up if they want to win. Dodger relievers have to be especially careful with the powerhouse lineup that is the Phillies. The Phillies have the momentum and the home-field advantage to close this NLDS out in five games. I am down on the Dodgers, but believe, with the right attitude, this team can come back to win at least two games. It will take more than a shoestring catch by a clowny fielder. L.A. has to get the most out of their starters and then wear down and mow down the Phillies. Their only chance will be to keep the game close and avoid another disaster like game three. The Dodgers bounced back and showed some resiliency after the 11-0 Sunday night blowout. Now it’s time for the team that owned the NL West earlier this year to cause the champions to crumble with their sights set on a second crown.

Parting points: What’s this baloney about Mariano Rivera doctoring the baseball in last night’s game? Pleeease.
Song of the day- The Wallflowers’ “6th Avenue Heartache”