Phils take opener, 8-6
LOS ANGELES - The Phillies' bats picked up where they left off in Colorado. Using three-run home runs by Carlos Ruiz and Raul Ibanez, sprinkled in with a two-run double by Ryan Howard, the Phillies opened the National League Championship Series with an 8-6 victory over the Los Anglees Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
Game 2 is Friday at 4:07 p.m. with Pedro Martinez pitching against Dodgers righthander Vicente Padilla.
In addition, Brad Lidge earned his third straight postseason save by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
The Phillies batted .296 in their NLDS series win over Colorado. That was the highest team batting average in franchise history for a playoff round.
Last night's starter Cole Hamels has owned the Dodgers. He entered the NLCS with a 4-0 career mark (including the postseason) against Los Angeles with a 1.64 ERA. Last season when he was MVP of the NLCS, Hamels went 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA against the Dodgers. This year in two games he went 1-0 with a 0.56 ERA.
Last night wouldn't be one of Hamels' signature performances, but he still ended up the winning pitcher.
The Dodgers countered with 21-year-old lefthander Clayton Kershaw, considered one of the rising young pitchers. He went 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA, striking out 185 in 171 innings.
Kershaw doesn't always find the strike zone, evidenced by the fact that he was third in the National League with 93 walks. His shaky command would eventually cost him in this game.
The Dodgers scored first on James Loney's solo home run to lead to right field to lead off the second innings. Loney hit a 93 mile per hour 2-1 fastball.
The fact that Loney got off to a quick start against the Phillies should come as no surprise. He batted .438 (7 for 16) with two doubles and two RBIs in last year's NLCS against the Phillies.
Then during this past regular season Loney batted .393 (11 for 28) with two home runs and six RBIs against the Phils.
After that home run to Loney, Hamels briefly settled down, retiring retired nine of the next 10 batters.
The Phillies knocked Kershaw out during a five-run fifth inning. Raul Ibanez led off with a single to leftfield. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and Pedro Feliz walked putting runners on first and second with nobody out.
Carlos Ruiz then delivered a three-run home run to left field, continuing a pattern of torching the Dodgers.
During the regular season Ruiz was 8 for 14 (.571) with one home run and five RBIs against the Dodgers.
In last year's NLCS against Los Angeles, he went 5 for 16 (.313) with an RBI.
The Phillies weren't finished.
After Ruiz's home run, Kershaw walked Hamels, who was forced at second on Jimmy Rollins' fielder's choice. Shane Victorino struck out for the second out but Rollins advanced to second on a wild pitch.
With Chase Utley at the plate, Rollins went to third on yet another wild pitch, one that would make history, although not the kind that Kershaw was looking to be part of.
It was the third wild pitch of the fifth inning. That set an NLCS record for most wild pitches in an inning and tied the mark for most wild pitches in a game.
