PHILADELPHIA — Jimmy Rollins lined a two-run double with two outs in the ninth inning off closer Jonathan Broxton and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied past the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 Monday night for a 3-1 lead in the NL championship series.
The defending champions can earn their second straight trip to the World Series with a victory at home in Game 5 on Wednesday night. Cole Hamels, last year’s NLCS and World Series MVP, will take the mound for the Phillies. Clayton Kershaw or Vicente Padilla will start for Los Angeles.
Trailing 4-3, the Phillies started their rally with one out in the ninth when pinch-hitter Matt Stairs walked on four pitches against Broxton. Stairs hit a two-run homer off Broxton in Game 4 of the NLCS last year at Dodger Stadium.
Broxton then hit Carlos Ruiz with a pitch, but pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs hit a soft liner to third for the second out.
Rollins, just 3 for 18 in the series to that point, then ripped a 99 mph fastball to right-center and the ball rolled all the way to the wall. Ruiz slid home without a throw.
Rollins pointed in the air as he rounded second and got mobbed by teammates at third base. Even Jamie Moyer, who just had surgery on his lower abdomen, limped out and joined the celebration.
Brad Lidge got two outs in the ninth to earn the win. Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer that gave him eight straight postseason games with at least one RBI, tying Lou Gehrig’s major league record set more than seven decades ago.
Matt Kemp had a tiebreaking, solo homer for the Dodgers, and Manny Ramirez made a shoestring catch that prevented the tying run from scoring in the sixth.
Before Rollins’ hit, Dodgers relievers hadn’t allowed a hit in 3 1/3 innings. Starter Randy Wolf pitched 5 1/3 effective innings against his former team while his “Wolf Pack” fan club sat in seats he left for them — and rooted against him.
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