Phillies rally to lead LA after eight innings, 7-5

Game 4 of the NL championship series was not completed for this edition.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs hit two-run homers in the eighth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies battled back from a two-run deficit to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-5 after eight innings in Game 4 of the NL championship series Monday night.

The game was not completed for this edition.

Casey Blake hit a homer and Juan Pierre scored on a throwing error by first baseman Ryan Howard, giving the Dodgers a 5-3 lead after six innings.

But in the eighth Victorino’s blast scored Howard, and Stairs followed with a homer to put the Phillies, who lead the series 2-1, ahead.

Howard scored the tying run in the top of the sixth on a wild pitch by Dodgers reliever Chan Ho Park. But in the bottom half, Blake led off and drove a 1-2 pitch from Chad Durbin just over the left-center fence.

Pierre followed with a double, pinch-hitter Matt Kemp walked and Rafael Furcal laid down a sacrifice bunt to the right of the mound that Howard fielded cleanly before throwing it past second baseman Chase Utley covering first. Manny Ramirez was intentionally walked for the second time, loading the bases.

Ryan Madson came in to face Russell Martin, whose line drive toward the middle was turned into a sensational, inning-ending double play when Utley made a diving grab and scrambled to tag the bag with his glove before Furcal could get back.

Ramirez’s RBI single off starter Joe Blanton tied it at 2 in the fifth, with Furcal running through third base coach Larry Bowa’s stop sign to score on a close play at the plate. Martin put Los Angeles ahead with a run-scoring grounder.

The Phillies wanted no part of Ramirez in the first with a runner at second and one out. He came in 14-for-25 against Blanton, who intentionally walked him with a runner at second and one out.

Martin struck out, but James Loney drove an 0-2 pitch off the center-field fence for a run-scoring double. Loney’s hit scored Furcal, who led off with a bunt single over the head of third baseman Greg Dobbs as he charged in on the grass.

Blanton walked Ramirez on a 3-2 pitch with one out in the third, but he was erased on a fielder’s choice grounder by Martin. Loney’s single put runners at the corners, but Blanton escaped the jam by retiring Blake DeWitt on a flyout.

The Phillies had no choice but to pitch to Ramirez in the fifth after Blanton issued a leadoff walk to Furcal, followed by Andre Ethier’s single.

The right-hander got a visit from pitching coach Rich Dubee, but Ramirez lined the next pitch to left field, scoring Furcal. Ethier scored the go-ahead run as Martin grounded out.

Ramirez’s RBI was his 73rd in postseason play, seven shy of Bernie Williams’ record. It also extended Ramirez’s LCS record to eight consecutive games with an RBI.

Dodgers starter Derek Lowe departed with a 3-2 lead after his teammates rallied. Clayton Kershaw, a 20-year-old left-hander who was bumped to the bullpen for the postseason, took over for Lowe and faced three batters. He walked Howard and gave up a single to Pat Burrell before Shane Victorino advanced the runners with a sacrifice.

Park came on and retired Dobbs on a fly ball as right fielder Ethier nearly collided with second baseman DeWitt. But Howard scored the tying run on a wild pitch that Park bounced in the dirt with Carlos Ruiz at the plate.

Philadelphia scored twice in the first. Jimmy Rollins led off with a single and went to third on Jayson Werth’s single to left. Utley doubled inside first base on an 0-2 pitch to drive in Rollins, and Werth scored on Howard’s groundout.