Lidge closes out Game 3 win for Phils

DENVER - Brad Lidge said many times in September that he expected playoff success to redeem his season, to render irrelevant the sour memories of his 11 blown saves.

However unlikely that claim sounded, Lidge's prediction seemed wise last night. He saved a tense, cold 6-5 win over Colorado in Game 3 of the National League division series, giving the Phils a two-games-to-one lead. The teams play Game 4 today at 6:07 p.m., when a Phillies win would clinch a berth in the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

At 2:14 a.m. in Philadelphia, Lidge induced a Troy Tulowitzki popup with two on in the ninth inning. "I was starting to get the feeling that things were going to go right," Lidge said of recent weeks. "When the postseason started, it is a completely new slate.

Lidge's save was made possible in part by faulty umpiring. That winning run scored on Ryan Howard's sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth. Jimmy Rollins, who scored on the play, advanced to third when Chase Utley fouled a ball off his lower leg. Home plate umpire Jerry Meals appeared not to see that, and Utley was incorrectly awarded a single on a close play at first.

"The ball hit him," said Rockies first baseman Todd Helton. "I saw it."

Meals told a pool reporter that after reviewing the play, it was apparent that the ball hit Utley in the leg and rolled up the line and should have been called foul.

"Number one, it wasn't seen by myself or anybody," he said. "If you look at it, you'll be able to see it. Off the front leg, got him up in the knee/thigh area. It just grazed him and the ball continued to roll the way it was rolling. I just saw a ball hit and rolling out there and that's it."

Meals admitted that Chase Utley's lack of a reaction to the contact contributed to the non-call.

"I never heard it, never saw it," Meals said. "If anybody would've seen it, had an idea that it hit him ... Chase Utley took off like it was nothing. He gave no indication to us that it hit him. Whatever percent of the time, you're going to get a guy that's going to stop if it hits him."

The game contained many themes, including redemption for Lidge and injustice for the Rockies, but the four-hour, six-minute affair was defined by frigid conditions. The temperature was 34.5 degrees at first pitch, and it dropped as the night progressed. That at least matched the record for coldest-ever postseason game. Game 4 of the 1997 World Series, played in Cleveland between the Indians and Florida Marlins, was 35 degrees (Phils manager Charlie Manuel was the Cleveland hitting coach that night).

"When the game started, I didn't get cold at all," Manuel said of last night.

From the beginning, it was not a memorable night for the starting pitchers. Both J.A. Happ and Jason Hammel battled command issues perhaps related to the extreme weather.

Utley, slowed by fatigue in September and into October, gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the first when he whacked a fastball over the fence in right-center field. It was his first home run of the series, and it gave Happ an advantage before he began.

The Phils have come to expect dominance from the 26-year-old, an atypically unflappable rookie whose 1.99 earned run average in road games was the best in the National League.

But despite his poise and potential, Happ labored from the first moments of his initial postseason start. In a three-inning outing, he barely resembled the pitcher who so impressed his manager and team this summer. His success was rooted in superior fastball command and an improving repertoire of offspeed pitches, and those qualities were scarce last night.

Handed the early lead, Happ began by allowing two singles and a run-scoring fielder's choice. He briefly recovered his fastball, getting Yorvit Torrealba to chase one that rose high and inside, the type of sneaky pitch for which he is becoming known. But he allowed two more singles and one more run in the inning.

Though Happ faced seven batters and threw 35 pitches in the first — he was uncharacteristically inefficient all night, throwing 42 strikes and 34 balls before leaving — he never imploded.

Still struggling with command, Happ allowed another run in the third. He issued a leadoff walk to Todd Helton, who scored on Garrett Atkins' two-out double to make it 3-1 Rockies.

Facing Hammel, the Phils offense went flat for two innings after Utley's home run, but ended his night with a three-run fourth. Shane Victorino led it off with a walk, and Utley and Ryan Howard followed with consecutive singles, bringing the Phils to within a run at 3-2.

Hammel then walked Jayson Werth to load the bases, and Raul Ibanez to tie the game. Pedro Feliz spoiled a chance for the Phils to take control when he lunged at a pitch outside the strike zone, and grounded into a double play. But Feliz's good friend Carlos Ruiz partially redeemed the inning, finishing an impressive eight-pitch at-bat by singling in the go-ahead run.

Manuel lifted Happ for a pinch-hitter in that inning, ending a disappointing night for the rookie who had longed for a playoff opportunity. But despite his issues, Happ left with his team in the lead.

"I felt like he had good stuff," Manuel said. "He was having command problems, but every pitch he threw was near the plate."

Joe Blanton relived Happ and allowed a long home run to Carlos Gonzalez in the bottom of the inning, tying the game at 4-4.

With the temperature dropping and pitchers struggling, the Phils reclaimed the lead in the sixth off reliever Jose Contreras. With his second key at-bat in as many tries, Ruiz drove in Raul Ibanez to make it 5-4. Once again, though, the Phillies failed to do more; they stranded two runners when Blanton failed to sacrifice and Rollins grounded out.

With the Phils still leading by one, Scott Eyre allowed a leadoff double to Gonzalez to begin the seventh. When the next batter, Dexter Fowler, hit a dribbler in front of the mound, Eyre rolled his ankle trying to field it.

"It feels sore, but I'll be fine," said Eyre, who will see a team physician this morning.

That injury brought Ryan Madson into the game earlier than usual, indicative of the moment's significance to the Phillies' season. Entering with runners on first and third with one out, Madson struck out two but lost the lead on a sacrifice fly by Tulowitzki.

Afterwards, Madson was more interesting in talking about Lidge's resurgence. "It's amazing," he said. "He got it done. I'm more than happy. The team is happy."

The team also appeared relieved, exhausted, even giddy after an emotional game. "Both teams pitched well, both teams played good defense, both teams battled back and forth," said Victorino. "It was just an amazing game, and I was glad to be a part of it.

Said Manuel: "I like it, even when I hate it. It tests you, but that is what the game is all about.