LOS ANGELES - The best player in the 2008 National League playoffs hit two home runs, including a grand slam; drove in 11 runs, a club record; and, in baseball's ultimate sign of respect, was intentionally walked twice in the most important game of the year.
Manny Ramirez? As if. Try Shane Victorino.
The Phillies' 5-foot-9, 180-pound centerfielder got the slugger treatment twice last night, drawing intentional walks for only the fifth and sixth time in his major-league career.
That had something to do with the fact that Victorino crushed a two-run homer into the right-field bullpen to kick-start the Phillies' thrilling eighth-inning comeback Monday night.
It also had something to do with the situations that arose in the third and fifth innings of Game 5.
In the third, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell hit back-to-back RBI singles off Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley. Howard advanced to third on Burrell's hit, so Victorino came to the plate with runners on first and third and two outs. After Billingsley threw a wild pitch that allowed Burrell to advance to second, manager Joe Torre decided to walk Victorino.
The strategy worked. Chan Ho Park replaced Billingsley and retired Pedro Feliz on a grounder to short.
Victorino came to the plate in a similar situation in the bizarre top of the fifth inning. With two men on, shortstop Rafael Furcal dropped a Burrell ground ball and then kicked it into shallow left field. Furcal committed a second error on the play by throwing wildly over the head of catcher Russell Martin.
Once again, Victorino was hitting with runners on second and third. Once again, Torre decided to take the bat out of Victorino's hand and take his chances with Feliz. Once again, it worked. Greg Maddux, making an emergency relief appearance, struck Feliz out.
The Phillies got another run on Furcal's third error of the inning - an errant throw to first that allowed Victorino to advance to second. He was stranded there, however, when Cole Hamels grounded out to end the gift rally.
Victorino, who struck out in the second inning, did get a chance to bat in seventh. He lined a one-out single to right field.
Victorino also made his usual contributions on defense. He caught the second out of the ninth inning, a fly ball off the bat of Matt Kemp, with his back against the fence in dead-center.
In the bottom of the seventh, he ranged far to shallow left-center to take a single away from leadoff man James Loney. The next batter, Casey Blake, crushed a ball to deep right-center that Victorino caught as he ran into the fence.
"He is playing well," second baseman Chase Utley said of the feisty Victorino. "He's doing a lot to help us win. He's playing some defense, hitting some homers, stealing a base. He's an exciting player."
Victorino certainly had an eventful series. His grandmother died Friday, and he was informed by his father of that sad news after Game 2. In Game 3, he was in the middle of a beanball incident - pitcher Hiroki Kuroda threw over his head, and Victorino's reaction precipitated a bench- and dugout-clearing scrum - that resulted in the fining of seven players and coaches by Major League Baseball.
That turned Victorino into Public Enemy No. 1 among Dodgers fans, who booed him lustily every time his name was announced.
"I can't imagine him not feeding off it," Utley said. "Shane's a competitor. He plays to win. He plays hard. I was definitely happy to see him hit that ball."
"That ball" was the two-run homer that tied Game 4 and set up Matt Stairs' dramatic game-winning shot.
It was the last of Victorino's heroics in the series, though. Compared to the rest of the series, Game 5 was just a walk in the park.
Victorino walking
Shane Victorino was walked intentionally only three times in 487 regular-season games over five seasons (2003-08), according to baseball-reference.com. Two were in 2008, one in 2007. Then it happened once in the NLDS against Milwaukee - and twice last night.
Contact columnist Phil Sheridan at 215-854-2844 or psheridan@phillynews.com. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/philsheridan.
