Myers helps Phillies take 2-0 lead over Dodgers

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Of all those big hitters in Philadelphia's potent lineup, no one ever expected pitcher Brett Myers to put them in control of the NL championship series with his bat.

Myers did better at the plate than on the mound, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs, Shane Victorino drove in four runs and the Phillies overcame another homer by Manny Ramirez to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-5 Friday for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven NLCS.

A grieving Charlie Manuel was in the dugout with the Phillies, hours after the manager's mother died. Players and coaches from both teams offered condolences before the game.

Victorino made a clutch catch with two on to end the seventh, and Brad Lidge hung on in the ninth for his second save of the series. He walked Ramirez and James Loney, then struck out Matt Kemp and Nomar Garciaparra to end it.

The series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Saturday night, with 45-year-old Jamie Moyer pitching for Philadelphia against Hiroki Kuroda.

Myers wasn't sharp on the mound, allowing five runs and six hits in five innings. Good thing for the Phillies that he's suddenly become a pesky batter after batting .069 with one RBI in the regular season.

In Game 2 against Milwaukee in the first round of the playoffs, Myers drew a two-out walk from CC Sabathia and Victorino hit a grand slam two batters later in a 5-2 win.

The Phillies, appearing in their first NLCS in 15 years, are two wins from playing for the World Series. They've won just one championship (1980) in the franchise's 126 years.

A title-starved crowd waved its "Fightin' Phils" rally towels and chanted "Beat LA!" These long-suffering fans haven't celebrated a championship since the NBA's 76ers won it all in 1983. If the Phillies keep playing like this, they just might give them that parade down Broad Street in a few weeks.

Ramirez did his best to spoil the party.

After grinning when a pitch from Myers sailed behind his back in the first inning, he lined a three-run shot into the flower bed just beyond the left-field wall to pull the Dodgers to 8-5 in the fourth.

Ramirez has hit a record 27 homers in the postseason. His 71 RBIs are second only to Bernie Williams' 80.

Myers left after tossing a scoreless fifth, and four relievers kept the Dodgers off the scoreboard the last four innings. Chad Durbin, J.C. Romero and Ryan Madson combined for nine outs.