LOS ANGELES - The last thing the Phillies wanted or needed was for this National League Championship Series to get interesting.

Guess what? It got there.

Game 3 opened doors for the Dodgers and cans of worms for the Phillies. For good measure, it featured a benches-clearing, not-quite-a-brawl that could give the rest of the series that hockey-playoff atmosphere of scores to be settled.

A win tonight would have put the Phillies on the threshold of the World Series with a three-games-to-nil lead. It also would have papered over some of the things that now require attention.

The Phillies opened their two-game lead courtesy of one good inning (the three-run sixth in Game 1) and one bad outing (Chad Billingsley's highly flammable Game 2 start). A 3-0 lead in games would have extinguished the Dodgers' flame. A five-run first inning reignited it.

Jamie Moyer, who described the Dodgers lineup as a school of sharks, got chomped to bits, raising a delicate issue for Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee.

If this thing goes the distance, who starts Game 7 for the Phillies? There was no doubt before tonight that it would be Moyer. Now? There have to be serious doubts. The school of Dodgers swarmed all over his crafty, slow-and-slower stuff like so much chum.

Righthander Joe Blanton will start Game 4 Monday night. Cole Hamels is set to start Game 5 here Wednesday. If there is a Game 6 Friday night in Philadelphia, Brett Myers will be on the hill.

Game 7 would be Saturday. Thanks to the extra off day tomorrow, Blanton would be available on his normal rest.

It's no fun even to have to contemplate this. Moyer is a fan favorite who also happens to be a very good pitcher. He isn't here as a favor. Without Moyer's 16-7 record this season, the Phillies are scattered around the country, watching the Dodgers play the Mets.

Moyer had a tough first inning in Game 3 of the division series in Milwaukee. He was able to limit the damage on the scoreboard to two runs and keep the Phillies in that game. They lost, but their offense deserved much of the blame for that.

Tonight, Moyer was a pitch from pulling the same escape. He got ahead of Dodgers second baseman Blake DeWitt with two quick strikes. DeWitt wound up stroking a three-run, game-breaking triple into the right field corner.

When Rafal Furcal led off the second inning with a home run, that was it. Moyer pitched to lefthanded hitter Andre Ethier and was finished.

With a strong outing on Monday, Blanton could force Manuel and Dubee to think very hard about sliding him up one spot in the postseason rotation - including that possible Game 7.

As the Phillies won five of six playoff games, it was easy to overlook the lack of production from their back-to-back NL MVPs. If this series tightens up, that will change.

Jimmy Rollins, a game-changer when he's on the basepaths, has one lonely single and a six pack of strikeouts in 13 at-bats. Ryan Howard was 0 for 8 before picking up a single and double tonight. He hasn't come close to hitting a home run.

"He's got to be patient enough to stand there and get a good ball to hit," Manuel said before the game. "It's just a matter of time until he starts seeing the ball."

Maybe tonight's hits were a sign that Howard is coming around. That would be good timing, because the Phillies desperately need him now.

Moyer's rough start aside, it still should bother the Phillies that they managed just two runs against Hiroki Kuroda and the L.A. bullpen.

As for the beanball subplot, the onus is squarely on the Phillies if that resurfaces and results in an injury. They started this thing back in Game 2, when Myers dropped Russell Martin with a high-and-inside fastball and then threw (accidentally, he said) behind Manny Ramirez.

Tonight, Moyer hit Martin in that fatal first inning. Clay Condrey threw one under Martin's chin in the second. That prompted Kuroda to throw at Shane Victorino, who gestured furiously that a purpose pitch should be low and in the ribs as opposed to cranium-high.

Victorino's case would be stronger if the Phillies hadn't thrown dangerously close to Martin's melon.

After Victorino grounded out and continued his chat with Kuroda, both dugouts and bullpens emptied. Ramirez snapped and charged toward the Phillies. Apparently, he could not find anyone as old or helpless as Don Zimmer to go after and the attack was thwarted.

When Chad Durbin hit Martin in the seventh - again - you got the distinct impression that this subplot is to be continued.

That helps make this an interesting series, which is good for everyone - except, of course, the Phillies.

Contact columnist Phil Sheridan

at 215-854-2844 or psheridan@phillynews.com.

Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/philsheridan.