Philthies take game 1

The Phils used a pair of three-run bombs and last year's version of Brad Lidge to take Game 1 of the NLCS 8-6 in La La Land....











The action got going in the bottom of the second with a long ball from James Loney...Clayton Kershaw, the yooungest pitcher to start an LCS game, cruised through the first four innings...and then hit a little bit of trouble in the fifth...that's when the flood gates would open....











Three wild pitches , a Carlos Ruiz three-run blast and four pitch walk to Cole Hamels later....Kershaw found himself with two down and runners on 2nd and third with Ryan Howard at the plate..I can understand wanting the whole lefty/lefty matchup and wanting to see Kershaw go 5, but how is he not out of the game at this point???? Howard proceeds to hit a two-run double and just like that the Philthies are sitting pretty with a 5-1 lead....






Give the Dodgers kudos for coming right back with 3 runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning when Man-Ram blasted a two-run shot and then went on to watch the ball from home plate for what felt like a solid hour and a half...Hamels didn't look awful tonight, but he's still a shell of what he was 1 year ago..



The dagger came when Raul Ibanez hit the 3 run bomb off Sherrill in the 8th...Raul has been on a tear this postseason as that HR game him 8 RBI in 5 postseason games...The Dodgers did manage to put up 2 in the bottom half, but missed on a huge opportunity when Manny hit a dinker with 2 on to end the inning...



Lidge came in and gave up the leadoff single to Kemp, but got Blake to hit into the double play...He walked Loney, but then got Belliard to pop out...Phils fans should take his recent success with a grain of salt...It could only be a matter of time before the real Brad Lidge shows up...



In today's matinee, Vincente Padilla will look to further capitalize on his NLDS game 3 gem and help LA avoid going down 2-0 before going to the city of brotherly love...Pedro Martinez will be making his first postseason start since game 3 of the 2004 World Series against the team he started his career with...Pedro hasn't pitched in almost a month and I can't imagine him being as sharp as he would be if he had thrown more recently....The Phils may be 3-0 on the road thus far, but I don't see LA losing tonight...Dodgers tie it up at 1...