PHILADELPHIA -- It's back to the future for this National League Championship Series as Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Dodgers meet for a fourth time in the NLCS. The Dodgers used the Phillies as a springboard into the World Series in 1977 and 1978, the Phillies finally got past the Dodgers in 1983.
As No. 4 arrives, talk about evenly matched. This series might be more about protecting the home turf and grabbing a lead before the ninth inning than anything else.
The Phillies and Dodgers met eight times in 2008, and they split it right down the middle. Los Angeles swept a four-game series in Dodger Stadium from Aug. 11-14. The Phillies didn't blink, sweeping a four-game series in their ballpark a week later, Aug. 22-25.
That stretch was part of a wacky time for the Dodgers in which they lost eight in a row and won eight in a row. Someone asked manager Joe Torre about how hot his club was following win No. 8 and the skipper quipped, "We're .500 over our past 16 games)."
Los Angeles has figured it out, winning 22 of its past 30 games and brushing aside the Cubs in the playoffs as if those NL-best 97 wins were compiled against a bunch of Little Leaguers. Manny Ramirez has set the tone, and Andre Ethier, James Loney and Matt Kemp have snapped to attention.
That lineup could do extreme damage in hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park, though this is especially worth noting: Ramirez, in that four-game series this season, batted only .136 (3-for-22) with five strikeouts, three walks, three total bases and no extra-base hits. His on-base percentage was .269 and his slugging percentage was .136.
The Phillies' lineup, featuring Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Pat Burrell, already has done some damage in Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia's 214 homers were most in the NL this season and second-most in all of baseball. That, along with a nicely balanced rotation featuring lefties Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer and right-handers Brett Myers and Joe Blanton, make the Phillies dangerous.
Their most lethal weapon, though, doesn't arrive until the ninth inning. Closer Brad Lidge, perhaps the most important acquisition anybody made last winter, has shaken the Houston blues and was a perfect 41-for-41 in save opportunities this year. Largely because of him, but also because of a rock solid bullpen including, among others, J.C. Romero, Ryan Madson, Chad Durbin and Clay Condrey, the Phillies were 79-0 this season when leading after eight innings.
The Dodgers' ninth innings will be interesting, because closer Takashi Saito has been extremely erratic since coming back from missed time with a sore elbow. Torre is going to have to be diplomatic, but there's no way he can trust Saito in the ninth. Look for Jonathan Broxton to get the ball then.
The Dodgers' biggest roster decision before Game 1 will be whether Hong-Chih Kuo (circulatory problems) is healthy enough to be placed on the active roster. If he is, that's an added weapon in the bullpen -- a lefty, too, nonetheless -- which may be key. That also would free Torre to slot rookie lefty Clayton Kershaw in as his fourth starter behind Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda.
Prediction: Dodgers in 6.
