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Rollins flashes some of his old magic for Phillies

SAN FRANCISCO - The single and two stolen bases in the seventh inning came to nothing, but might have meant so much.

Shortstop Jimmy Rollins had a single and two stolen bases in Game 5 of the NLCS. (David Maialetti / Staff Photographer)
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins had a single and two stolen bases in Game 5 of the NLCS. (David Maialetti / Staff Photographer)Read more

SAN FRANCISCO - The single and two stolen bases in the seventh inning came to nothing, but might have meant so much.

Certainly, that sequence in Game 5 last night signaled that Jimmy Rollins is back, recovered from the hamstring injury that cost him 15 starts down the stretch and, nearly as significantly, cost him his explosiveness for 6 weeks.

Rollins did not score last night. Ross Gload lined into a doubleplay and the score remained a 3-2 Phillies lead.

He had done all he could, though, after a ground out and a strikeout.

But this is why his teammates and his manager remain as confident in Rollins' abilities as Rollins is himself.

"I don't know if I'm 100 percent yet," said Rollins, 1-for-4 last night. He said he felt fast when the series started, and, he said, "I still feel fast. I just don't know how healthy I feel . . . I get on base, I can make things happen. That's big, no matter where I am in the order."

Rollins' increased confidence could help explain the lingering question from Game 4. For the previous 24 hours, much discussion centered on why Jimmy didn't bunt. You hardly could blame the manager. The time hardly could have been riper for Rollins to come through with a big hit.

Rollins is a red-light player, right? That's what Larry Bowa, his first big-league manager, called him, and Bowa would know, right? Bowa was a respectable .254 hitter in six playoff runs.

So, coming back to the Bay area - Rollins was raised across the water, in Alameda - his team nearly desperate, he had three chances in Game 4, three big moments to burnish his legacy.

He went oh-for-3.

Fourth inning, two on, two out, down 2-0: strikeout, looking.

Fifth inning, two out, runners at second and third, now ahead, 3-2: strikeout, swinging.

Then, the biggest moment:

Eighth inning, no outs, Jayson Werth on second, tie game, batting lefthanded against righthander Sergio Romo. A bunt situation, right?

No.

Rollins popped out foul behind third base.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel hoped Rollins would at least pull a ground ball to the right side. He had faith in Rollins.

"That, and, maybe, because I'm a dead-pull hitter," Rollins said.

It was less statistical faith than empirical faith, and even that empiricism lacked real grounding.

In his finest hour, Rollins ripped a two-out, two-run double off Dodgers punching-bag closer Jonathan Broxton for a walkoff win in Game 4 of the 2009 NLCS.

That, however, has been the exception for Rollins in the playoffs.

The rule, empirical or otherwise, comes closer to his stats.

Rollins entered last night 5-for-26 in these playoffs, the first in which he has not batted leadoff. Rollins missed nearly half the season with leg injuries. Still, this showing is pretty close to typical.

Rollins began Game 5 last night a .225 hitter in 39 postseason games over the past four seasons. He had stolen seven bases and been caught three times. He had scored 21 runs, had driven in 15 . . . and had struck out 31 times.

By comparison, Derek Jeter - the Yankees shortstop against whom Rollins measures himself - is a .311 hitter in 146 playoff games who hit .326 through his first four playoff runs.

The strikeouts tend to blur for a manager when the man striking out is your team leader, usually your leadoff hitter, a former MVP with Gold Gloves and more charisma than the rest of the club combined.

It is Rollins alone who will deliver, with candor, the strengths and the shortcomings of his teammates and himself. It was Rollins who filled the leadership void when Aaron Rowand left after the 2007 run to the playoffs.

In that beatific light, Rollins' other scattered big playoff moments become magnified.

* Oct. 4, 2007 vs. Colorado: Rollins brought the Phillies back single-handed, first with a leadoff homer, then, in the second inning, with a two-run triple. The Phillies proceeded to lose, 10-5.

* Oct. 2, 2008 vs. Milwaukee: Rollins' two-out walk off Brewers ace CC Sabathia loaded the bases in the middle of the key rally in Game 2 of the Division Series. The at-bats before and after drew the attention: Brett Myers' nine-pitch at-bat, and the resulting walk, kept the inning alive. Shane Victorino's grand slam blew the game open.

* Oct. 5, 2008 vs. Milwaukee: His leadoff homer in Game 4 began the scoring in that series-clinching win.

* Oct. 15, 2008: Rollins' leadoff homer in Game 5 of the 2008 LCS against the Dodgers began his best game of that year's run. When it was over, Rollins had a walk, a stolen base and two runs, and the Phillies had their first World Series berth in 15 years.

* Oct. 25, 2008: He led off with a single and scored the first run of Game 3 in the 2008 World Series against Tampa Bay.

* Oct. 11, 2009: He singled and eventually scored the winning run in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the Division Series in Colorado. His one-out single in the ninth the next night began a three-run comeback rally that ended that series.

* Oct. 18, 2009: He played a minor role in the 11-0 pummeling of the Dodgers in Game 3 of the LCS, leading into his Game 4 heroics.

This season, so far, there was the bases-loaded RBI walk in Game 2 of the LCS, followed by a three-run insurance double in the 6-1 win.

There were other hits, and walks, and runs, integral part of Phillies' rallies and wins, but huge moments?

Not really.

Almost, last night . . . but not quite.

Maybe the legacy grows in Game 6 tomorrow.