LOS ANGELES - Everywhere you looked, the odds were stacked against the Phillies last night. The starting pitcher had a history of struggles against some key components of the Dodgers' lineup. The opposing pitcher had allowed just four hits in two regular-season starts against the Phillies.
Even history - the Phillies entered the night just 3-11 all-time in the third game of a playoff series - favored Los Angeles.
But the various factors that conspired against them didn't make a 7-2 loss loss any easier to take. The Dodgers scored five runs in the first inning, knocked veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer out of the game in the second, then rode the steady right arm of Hiroki Kuroda to cut their deficit in this best-of-seven National League Championship Series to 2-1.
"Everybody knew - from the first game, we expected the Dodgers to play us hard," said lefthander J.C. Romero, who was part of a tag-team effort from the bullpen that ate up the final 6 1/3 innings. "That's the way they play the game. It just happened that we capitalized when we were at home in certain situations and they capitalized today. That's the way it is."
If the Phillies hope to edge one win closer to their sixth World Series berth in franchise history, they will have to find a way to win in Dodger Stadium, the site of Game 4 tonight and Game 5 Wednesday. They have lost six straight games in Los Angeles, including a four-game sweep in mid-August. Their last victory on the road over the Dodgers occurred on July 17, 2007.
LA will try to even the series tonight with ace righthander Derek Lowe pitching on 3 days' rest against the Phillies' No. 4 starter, Joe Blanton.
Last night, it was evident early that the Phillies were going to have a difficult time breaking serve. The Dodgers entered the game hitting .307 with 15 home runs in their careers off Moyer, with the bulk of the damage coming from Manny Ramirez (18-for-53, 10 home runs) and Nomar Garciaparra (15-for-36, one home run). Manager Joe Torre tailored his lineup accordingly, starting Garciaparra at first base and batting him fifth. Garciaparra, incidentally, was one of only four Dodgers who Moyer wound up retiring before he was pulled with one out in the second inning.
Moyer, who allowed six runs on six hits in 1 1/3 innings, has allowed eight runs in 5 1/3 innings in two postseason starts (13.50 ERA) after going 16-7 with a 3.71 ERA in the regular season.
The first four batters he faced last night reached base, leading to a five-run first inning. Moyer hit one of those batters with a pitch, setting the stage for a benches-clearing incident in the top of the third.
"I really didn't give myself a chance to get settled in," Moyer said. "I sat and watched the game like you did."
The game heated up significantly in the top of the third. The Phillies were behind, 6-1, when Kuroda threw a fastball at the head of Shane Victorino, who responded by taking a couple of steps toward the mound and barking at both Kuroda and the Dodgers' dugout. After Victorino grounded out to end the inning, he exchanged words with Kuroda, causing both benches to clear.
Two days earlier, Phillies righthander Brett Myers had drawn the ire of the Dodgers' bench when he threw a pitch behind Manny Ramirez in the Phillies' 8-5 win in Game 2. In the first inning yesterday, Moyer hit catcher Russell Martin with a pitch.
Kuroda's bean ball looked intentional, in large part because of the precise command he displayed the rest of the night. Kuroda, 33, a first-year import from Japan, continued his domination of the Phillies, taking advantage of an early 5-0 lead and cruising through six innings. After allowing an RBI single by Pedro Feliz with two outs in the second inning, he retired the next 13 batters he faced.
The outing was Kuroda's third impressive performance against the Phillies in a little more than 2 months. In two regular-season starts, he held them to just two runs and four hits in 13 innings.
Chase Utley, who had two of the team's four hits off Kuroda during the regular season, led off the seventh inning with a double that gave the Phillies their first life of the game. Utley moved to third on a single by Ryan Howard, then scored on a bloop base-hit by Pat Burrell to cut the deficit to 7-2.
But the Phillies could not manage to inflict any more damage. Righthander Cory Wade, who replaced Kuroda after the RBI single by Burrell, recorded three straight outs to escape the jam and strand Howard and Burrell.
"Momentum is a big thing, playing in front of your home crowd, I think, sometimes gets things kick-started," said Victorino, who declined to answer questions about the bench-clearing incident. "Coming out having a big inning early on gave them a kick-start. It's one game. We've got tomorrow still left to go." *
For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese
Photos: 2009 Phillies 
