PHILADELPHIA — For the last month, through the magic carpet ride that has taken them in more directions than Manny Ramirez’s dreadlocks, this was the lurking concern.
At some point would the Dodgers’ clock strike midnight, with the valet pulling up in a pumpkin?
Everything had gone right for four weeks, with starters staying hot, hitters committing to a selfless approach and the bullpen duct-taping the door shut even without closer Takashi Saito. How dare reality interrupt the regularly scheduled Disney programming Thursday night?
Two sloppy pitches. One loss.
Ace Derek Lowe had the equivalent of a mental spasm in a forgettable sixth inning that leaves the Dodgers aching for redemption after falling 3-2 to the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series opener.
“You could hear crickets for the first five innings. Then, with those two home runs by Chase (Utley) and Pat (Burrell), you couldn’t hear anything,” said Phillies closer Brad Lidge, who converted his 44th consecutive save this season. “Everything was different.”
Even as Lowe was mowing them down, turning bats into splinters with 11 groundball outs through five innings, the Phillies insisted they would find a way to win. Lidge confessed that he gets loose when his team is down five runs because the offense is so predictably potent late. Besides, Cole Hamels was pitching too well to lose.
The rally started harmlessly, with Shane Victorino hitting a routine groundball to Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal. Victorino hustled down the line — “That’s what I always do,” he said — and Furcal fired wildly. Victorino cruised into second, unnerving Lowe as Utley stepped into the box. An errant sinker followed, which Utley deposited into the right-field seats to tie the game at 2.
“What was I thinking throwing that on the first pitch?” Lowe said.
Now the game wasn’t just changing, it was morphing into a Phillies victory. One out later, Burrell smashed a fastball into the left-field seats. Off the bat, neither ball appeared destined to become a souvenir, but Citizens Bank Park is only slightly largely than Williams- port down the lines and in the gaps.
“The one I hit and the one Chase hit wouldn’t have gone out at Dodger Stadium,” Burrell admitted. “But the one Manny hit would have.”
That first-inning laser, more than anything else, suggested that Lady Luck had left the Dodgers with a bill and floated to some other unsuspecting city. Ramirez hammered a cross-fire slider so hard he broke into his trot. Inexplicably, it struck the side panel 415 feet away, resulting in an RBI double instead of a two-run homer.
“As long as I have ever been here, I have never seen a ball hit there,” Victorino said. “Usually it’s in the camera well or in the trees.”
That run would matter later as the Phillies patiently waited for Lowe to make a mistake for a team that hadn’t lost in the playoffs until Thursday.
When Lidge, a Colorado kid, pumped his fist after the final out, it was among the loudest cheers he’s ever heard in his life. He continued living the dream as the Dodgers’ fantasy appears to be fading to black.
“In the playoffs, three runs are like seven runs in the regular season,” shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. “We felt like eventually we would come around.
“Give credit to Chase and Pat. Now, it’s up to us to keep our foot on their throats and not let them breathe.”
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
NLCS Recap
Key moment
Left fielder Pat Burrell delivered his biggest hit as a Phillie, crushing a Derek Lowe sinker into the left-field seats in the sixth, a solo home run that put Philadelphia ahead for good.
Unsung hero
Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino is one of baseball’s best runners and hustles like he’s still trying to win a job. He burst down the line on a routine groundball in the sixth, causing shortstop Rafael Furcal to rush his throw for an error. Moments later, Chase Utley smashed a two-run homer to tie the game.
Up next
Down 1-0 in the series, the Dodgers turn to kid ace Chad Billingsley. He’s a muscle car on the mound but was more Pinto in visiting parks, going 6-6. He lost in Philadelphia on Aug. 25 against tonight’s adversary Brett Myers, who didn’t allow a run in seven innings. That was the last time Billingsley lost a game. Another one tonight could spell the end of this season.
Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post
