Phillies Beat Dodgers in Game 1 of NLCS

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 15 -- The detailed calculus that will help determine the winner of the 2009 National League Championship Series began well before the first pitch, when two managers who made a combined 985 pitching changes this year thought about how to stock their bullpens. Bullpens take on a special meaning in October, especially on nights like Thursday, in Game 1, when by the sixth inning the starters were gone and the game was tight.

It shortens the story to suggest that Philadelphia won the NLCS series opener against Los Angeles, 8-6, entirely because of some cold-blooded relief pitching from J.A. Happ, Chan Ho Park and Brad Lidge. But this much can be said: In a messy game where a total of 11 relievers took the ball, Philadelphia's bullpen trumped (barely) Los Angeles's. On Thursday, the better bullpen belonged to the team whose bullpen was thought to be its vulnerability.

If Game 1 in any way suggests what's in store for the rest of this series, the Phillies and Dodgers are in for a classic bout, all big leads, big comebacks and big turning points. Here, the scoring opportunities were nearly continuous, which is why 56,000 at Dodger Stadium were treated to more than four hours of baseball and critical moments almost everywhere.

There was the sixth inning, when Happ, the standout rookie who came on as the Phillies' second reliever, was one pitch away from walking in the tying run, only to induce a stadium-shushing groundout by Rafael Furcal.

And the seventh, when Park, a last-minute addition to the NLCS roster, entered with the tying run on second and froze him there, shutting down the middle of Los Angeles's lineup.

Then the eighth, when Ryan Madson teetered but never toppled, allowing two runs but ending the inning with a Manny Ramírez groundout when runners were on first and third.

When the sun had barely set midway through this game, with starters Cole Hamels and Clayton Kershaw knocked out, the Phillies clung to a 5-4 lead. That's where the back-and-forth matchups began. The most costly performance came from Los Angeles's dominant lefty, George Sherrill, who gave up three quick runs in the top of the eighth with a walk, another walk and a three-run homer to Raúl Ibáñez. A guy with a 1.70 ERA in the regular season can't have a poorer 11-pitch stretch.

Though Madson gave back two runs in the bottom of the eighth, bringing the Dodgers within two, Lidge handled the bottom of the ninth. After a leadoff single, he responded by inducing a Casey Blake double play.

The fact that the Phillies prevailed in this duel of bullpens explains much about the fortitude of the defending champs. It was the Dodgers, after all, who had the best bullpen ERA in baseball this year. The Phillies? They had a middling group (ninth in NL with a 3.91 ERA) with a shaky closer. For this series, Manager Charlie Manuel included among his 11 pitchers a guy named Antonio Bastardo, who had a 6.46 ERA.

For all the differences between Hamels and Kershaw -- one pitcher's stardom is established; the other's is still speculative -- on this night they pitched similar ballgames, which would have been fine if games ended after four innings. Hamels and Kershaw are both lefties, and if Hamels has the MVP hardware from 2008's postseason run, Kershaw has the stuff to someday follow suit. His pitches move like a getaway car in a police chase, corkscrewing this way, swerving that. He throws a 73 mph curve and a 96 mph fastball. He became, on Thursday, the youngest pitcher in baseball history to start an LCS Game 1.

Given the duties of an ace, though, Kershaw pitched like an ace only fleetingly, and then collapsed. Having held the Phillies to one hit and zero runs through four innings, everything changed in the fifth; this was the upside-down portion of the same amusement park ride. Suddenly, Kershaw couldn't throw strikes. He'd already allowed a line drive single, thrown a wild pitch and walked another when Carlos Ruiz, fed a high fastball, smeared a three-run homer to left. Ruiz's first long ball since September 8 gave Philadelphia a 3-1 lead.

Kershaw stayed in there, battling and losing the battle. He walked the next batter, Hamel, on four pitches. He threw two more wild pitches, setting a new LCS record with three in an inning. With two outs, he walked Chase Utley. Though the bullpen had been activated, Manager Joe Torre decided to stick with Kershaw -- lefty versus lefty, kid versus slugger.

Kershaw threw a first-pitch ball.

Second pitch, Howard roped a two-run double into right.

Kershaw, down 5-1, was done.

But the Dodgers' hopes weren't done. The next half-inning, Hamels found himself in similar quicksand, a double here, a single there. When the Phillies couldn't turn an inning-ending double play on an Andre Ethier grounder to short -- they settled for a force-out at second -- Manny Ramírez stepped up. Towels waved. Fans stood. Ramirez jumped ahead 2-0. He hit the third pitch to deep left, a no-doubt homer. Towels waved some more. Fans roared louder. The Dodgers were down just 5-4.