Sports

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

By Paul Sokoloski psokoloski@timesleader.com
Sports Writer   |   Paul Sokoloski on Facebook   |   @TLPaulSokoloski on Twitter

PHILADELPHIA - Joe Blanton’s run at baseball history ended abruptly Monday night.

Fortunately for the Phillies, Ryan Howard’s didn’t.

Howard joined New York Yankees Hall of Fame legend Lou Gehrig as the only players with an RBI in eight straight postseason games and Jimmy Rollins rocketed a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Phillies rallied for a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Los Angles Dodgers in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series at Citizens Bank Park as the Phillies took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

"I was saying, ‘All I have to do is catch a ball in the gap," said Rollins, whose double off Dodgers hard-throwing closer Jonathan Broxton scored Eric Bruntlett and Carlos Ruiz with the tying and winning runs. "With him throwing 99 (mph), you get the bat on the ball and it’s going to go far."

Howard hit one far himself, blasting a two-run homer in the first off former Phillie Randy Wolf to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

"I think it’s just the experience I’ve gained from last year to this year," Howard said of his playoff hot streak, "just the entire feel of the playoffs."

Postseason pitchers have felt his power and wrath.

After Shane Victorino’s popup inexplicably fell between three Dodgers for a base hit, Howard hammered a 3-1 pitch from former Phillie Randy Wolf over the right field wall to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

That gave Howard, who drove in at least one run in all four National League Division Series games against Colorado and the first four NLCS games against the Dodgers, two homers, seven extra-base hits and 14 RBI this postseason.

"Ryan is swinging the bat very good right now," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He’s staying on the ball real good. It’s good to see. He couldn’t pick a better time to hit good. It’s outstanding. Keep it up."

For a long while, it appeared Howard’s homer was all Blanton would need.

The Phillies righthander, making his first start of this postseason, retired the first 10 Dodgers he faced to conjure up early dreams of playoff perfection.

They crumbled quickly.

Matt Kemp drew a one-out walk to give the Dodgers their first baserunner in the fourth inning, and two batters later, Manny Ramirez ripped a single to left field for their first hit. James Loney followed with a run-scoring single to right.

"We try to put up as many runs as we can no matter who we’re playing," Loney said before the game.

The Dodgers put up a couple more before they were done.

Russell Martin tied the game with a bases-loaded RBI single in the fourth inning, then Matt Kemp drove a solo homer to dead center field in the fifth as Los Angeles forged to a 3-2 lead.

Casey Blake extended that to a 4-2 advantage with a two-out, run-scoring single off Blanton in the sixth.

The Phillies fought back.

Victorino torched a triple into the left field corner and raced home on Chase Utley’s ensuing single as the Phillies pulled within 4-3 and knocked Wolf off the mound in the sixth inning. Utley eventually reached third as the potential tying run, but the Dodgers stranded him there when a hard-charging Ramirez made a spectacular shoestring grab of a sinking liner from Raul Ibanez to finish the sixth inning.