Remember all that talk in the last 48 hours about how the Phillies matched up with the Dodgers?

Remember all those predictions from those media know-it-all types (oh wait... that would be me)?

Throw those old paper in the garbage, even if it's not recycling day. The Phillies beat L.A. 8-6 in Game 1 of the NLCS by turning over everything you thought you knew was right going into the series.


What happened tonight at Dodger Stadium is one of the reasons baseball is the best game going. Everything that you think should happen doesn't; all that "on paper" stuff is just that -- on paper, not on the field.

All week the Dodgers bullpen was being applauded for leading the league in ERA, for having a fireballer in the closer's role, Jonathan Broxton, and two lefties to shut down the lefty-heavy Phils middle of the order.

So what happened? The Phils scored three very important runs off the Dodgers pen, and, fittingly, when a lefty, Raul Ibanez, poked a three-run home run off one of the Dodgers southpaws, George Sherrill.

And on the flip side, you couldn't swing a dead skunk around Dodgertown without hitting someone who had something smart ass and defamatory to say about the Phils bullpen. Brad Lidge led the league in blown saves, Ryan Madson shrunk when given the closer's role, Scott Eyre had a dangling elbow, yada, yada, yada...

And then what happens Thursday?

The Phillies bullpen is handed a 5-4 lead from Cole Hamels and makes it stand up. Chan Ho Park returns from a month-long absence (hamstring) and is dominant; J.A. Happ keeps his Rookie of the Year status intact; Lidge stays perfect, three-for-three, in postseason save chances.

All that surprising stuff at the end of the game plus a three-run home run from Carlos Ruiz and two more RBIs from Mr. September/October Ryan Howard in the same, five-run fifth inning. I'd say that's a good start from a Phillies team I picked to lose this series in six games.

Oops.


Here's a little postgame reaction from the clubhouse:

Raul Ibanez, on his three-run homer off Sherrill and the Phils lefties abilities to hit left-handed relievers: "We've faced a lot of left-handers throughout the course of the season, and so you try to ignore whatever the other team is trying to do and just try to focus on your game and what you're trying to do.
You know, it's definitely important to come in here and win the first game, you know, against -- they're a tough team, and it's definitely important to win the first game, especially we started on the road. They had a great crowd today, and to be able to kind of win the first game is a nice thing for us."



Brad Lidge, on how the Dodgers have been touted to have the league's best pen while the Phils relief corps has been criticized all season: "When you bullpen is healthy and going on all cylinders, I think we’re the best one. We proved it last year. I think we had a rough season, I had a rough season, but once the postseason rolls around, it’s all different."



Ryan Madson, on the bullpen preserving the lead: "You just have to stay on it. Make pitches one at a time, do what it takes and leave the inning with the lead."


Cole Hamels, on whether he was bothered by Manny Ramirez admiring the home run he hit: "We’ll just wait and see."