9th-inning rally helps Phillies clinch series

But somehow, someway - perhaps T-shirts should be made with those two words - this is how it ended: with Brad Lidge on the mound retiring Troy Tulowitzki for his second straight save, with hugs and high-fives and champagne and a second straight berth in the National League Championship Series.

After Jimmy Rollins' fielding error led to a three-run Rockies rally in the bottom of the eighth and a 4-2 deficit, Ryan Howard's two-out, two-run double and Jayson Werth's RBI single off Rockies closer Huston Street lifted the Phillies to an improbable, 5-4, NLDS-clinching victory over Colorado at a stunned Coors Field. With it, the Phillies closed out the best-of-five series in four games and will open the NLCS at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night.

"These last couple of games have been character builders," Howard said in a postgame interview on TBS. "We got down and could have easily given up, knowing that we could go back home and try to close it out there. But that's the thing about this team. We don't give up."

The Phillies built a 2-1 series lead with clutch hits, solid relief pitching and superb defense. They watched it slip away thanks to a deficiency in all three.

On a cold, albeit non-record-breaking day, the hot arm of lefthander Cliff Lee and solo home runs by Shane Victorino and Werth looked like they would be enough for the Phillies to clinch their second consecutive NLCS showdown with the Dodgers.

Lee entered the evening having thrown two consecutive complete games against Colorado - the first coming 5 days earlier in a 5-1, Game 1 rout - and came close to making it three in a row. The veteran lefty had little trouble adapting to the cold, thin air - Game-time temperature was 48, or 13 degrees warmer than it was in a record-tying Game 3 - using an effective changeup to offset the fastball and slider/cutter he uses to attack opposing hitters.

But unlike Game 1, when the Phillies rapped out 12 hits and scored five runs in the fifth and sixth innings, they provided Lee with little margin for error. After Victorino gave them a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, working a 3-2 count before sending the eighth pitch he saw from Ubaldo Jimenez into the rightfield seats, they struggled to muster any offense against the hard-throwing righthander. Twice, they loaded the bases with less than two outs yet failed to push home a run. In the second, Werth and Raul Ibanez struck out swinging with the bases loaded; in the eighth, Pedro Feliz popped out to third base and Carlos Ruiz grounded out.

Aside from Werth's solo shot off Jimenez in the sixth, the Phillies were unable to provide Lee with the cushion he enjoyed for the final three innings of his complete game in Game 1.

It almost wound up costing them.

Trying to protect a 2-1 lead, Lee got series star Carlos Gonzalez to fly out to leftfield for the all-important first out of the eighth. He walked Dexter Fowler on four pitches, but then got Todd Helton to send a weak groundball hopping toward second base.

That's when misfortune struck.

Chase Utley fielded the ball with the intent of tagging Fowler out on the basepath and perhaps throwing to first base for an inning-ending doubleplay. Fowler hurdled Utley, prompting the second baseman to make a quick sideways flip to Rollins covering at second. But the ball bounced off Rollins' glove and into centerfield, allowing both runners to reach base safely.

At that point, Ryan Madson replaced Lee. Ben Francisco recorded the second out, making a diving grab of a sinking line drive by Tulowitzki. But the next batter, pinch-hitter Jason Giambi, dropped a soft single into leftfield to drive the tying run home, and Yorvit Torrealba followed with a two-run double to the alley in right-center.

Lee, who threw 117 pitches, could only watch from the dugout as his potential clinching victory turned into what looked like a gut-wrenching loss.

But the Phillies rallied in the top of the ninth. Rollins, who jump-started the game-winning rally the night before, singled up the middle with one out, then was replaced at first by Shane Victorino on a force out.

After Victorino advanced to second on defensive indifference, Street walked Utley, bringing Howard to the plate with two outs. The Big Piece responded, lacing a two-run double to rightfield that tied the game. Werth followed with a single to center for the go-ahead run.

Lefthander Scott Eyre, who the night before left with a sprained ankle, recorded the first two outs of the ninth, but also allowed singles to Gonzalez and Helton.

That brought on Lidge for the one-out save, sparking another champagne celebration and the end of a heart-palpitating series.

Somehow, someway.

Los Angeles, here they come.

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese.