Phils Thumped by Dodgers

The Phils dropped Game 3 to a highly motivated Dodgers team by a score of 7 - 2. Even with the loss, the Phillies are still up in the NLCS 2 games to 1, with Game 4 this evening.

Phils starter Jamie Moyer did not come out and have the kind of 1st inning the Phillies were looking for. Moyer gave up 5 runs on 5 hits and generally did not look sharp. Even as semi-interested in sports as an LA crowd can be, even that crowd was cheering pretty wildly and giving the Dodgers the boost they needed.

The Phils were able to respond in the top of the 2nd, with Pedro Feliz delivering an RBI single, scoring Ryan Howard, who had doubled and advanced on a Jayson Werth fly out.

Moyer was pulled, however, in the 2nd inning after giving up a home run to Rafael Furcal. He was relieved by Clay Condrey, who, while pitching to Russell Martin, threw one high and tight during an at-bat that Martin ultimately grounded into a double play on. Martin, furious because he had been hit (weakly) by Jamie Moyer in the first inning, threw a hissy fit in the dugout.

Upsetting the catcher virtually guarenteed a Phillie would be thrown at the next inning and sure enough, Dodger starter Hiroki Kuroda threw over Shane Victorino's head in the next inning. Victorino eventually grounded out during the at-bat, but after Victorino exchanged words with Kuroda, the benches emptied. Most of the pointing and shouting was done by the coaching staffs, but it was funny to watch Manny Ramirez attempt to push through a crowd to get at a Phillie.

After the "gathering" in the middle of the field, the game settled in, with the Phillies batters seemingly doing everything possible to make Hiroki Kuroda's life much easier by swinging at bad pitches and not working the count. When Kuroda departed in the 7th inning, it was after throwing only 84 pitches.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, managed to tack on a 7th run off of JA Happ in the 4th inning, who came on and pitched pretty well in 3 innings of relief, all things considered.

The Phils did manage to scratch out a second run in the 7th inning, when Chase Utley led off with a double and was eventually chased home on a single from Pat Burrell to make the score 7 - 2.

The series continues tonight with Derek Lowe pitching on short rest against Joe Blanton.

Notes:

- The entire notion that the Dodgers somehow needed to get "revenge" against the Phillies by throwing at Victorino's head was just ridiculous on every level. Even if Myers was throwing at Ramirez in Game 2, did anyone associated with the Dodgers stop to think that it was maybe because Ramirez sat there and preened after he hit that long double against Hamels in game 1? Most players actually do get thrown at for that sort of thing, but Ramirez is consistently allowed to get away with it.

And I don't care what anyone says or how they couch it; Russell Martin embarassed himself with his behavior last night. He got hit on the knee by a guy who was obviously wild in Jamie Moyer. Furthermore, Moyer hit him with a breaking ball and Moyer couldn't break a pane of glass with his stuff even in his younger days. For Martin to pout like he did after getting pitched up and in was a joke.

The fact that the Dodgers seem to think that every inside pitch is an attempt to hit them is in the Phillies favor as it is obviously in the Dodgers' heads. The Phils need to keep pounding the inner half of the plate.

- Could someone let Jimmy Rollins know the NLCS has begun?