S is for Shane Victorino! S is for Matt Stairs! Sweet is for the two-run homers each had in the 8th of last night's game. The first, Shane's, tied it at 5; the second, Stairs', gave the Phillies the 7-5 lead. Brad Lidge came in in the 8th for his first 4-out appearance of the season, got the needed out, then finished off the Dodgers and their crass fans in the 9th. When leading after eight, the Phillies are 85-0. They took a crucial game on the road and now lead the series 3-1.The Phillies took a 2-0 lead off Derek Lowe in the 1st. The Dodgers tied it, then went ahead in the 5th. The Phillies tied it in the top of the 6th and the Dodgers came back to take the lead 5-3 in the bottom. It was the 8th that did in the Dodgers and their vaunted pitching (keep tellling us about it). Victorino's homer was a bullet that just sailed over the bullpen gate, almost nailing bullpen catcher Lou Marson. (And how much fun must that kid, a double-A prospect, be having?) Stairs' pinch-hit homer left no room for doubt, sailing high and deep into the seats in right. Cricket time at Chavez Ravine.
The 40-year-old Stairs, picked up by the Phillies from Toronto on 8/30, provided one of the best quotes of the baseball season. Speaking about what his homer, only the second postseason hit of his career, meant to him, Stairs said "but when you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you're getting your ass hammered by the guys, it's no better feeling than to have done that."
Dodger fans can now second-guess Joe Torre for his handling of his bullpen. Phillies fans can focus on Pat Burrell's ill-advised throw to home and Ryan Howard's error. I'd rather think about how Joe Blanton was pretty much solid for five, giving up three runs and giving his team a chance to win. Or about the three doubleplays the Phillies induced, including the lunging unassisted one turned by Chase Utley. Most of all, three rousing cheers for Shane Victorino! "Play as a team, win as a team." Ain't it the truth.
