What's more dramatic than coming back from a 1-0 NLCS deficit?

The Good:

• James Loney:  His double in the third set up LA's first run, then in the third he came through with a clutch, two-out single to drive in the Blue's second run, briefly chipping away at the home team's lead before the fateful third inning.  Add a walk and a couple nifty plays at first, and it was a good night for the lefty.
• Manny Ramirez: It wasn't all rosy.  Twice Manny was retired on weak pop ups with runners on, but he also got the Dodgers back in the game courtesy of a big three run bomb with two down in the fourth, cutting the Philadelphia lead to 8-5.  After the Dodgers seemed dead and buried, Manny broke out the paddles gave the team a pulse.  Why Charlie Manuel pitched to him in that situation- yes, loading the bases isn't exactly a move straight out of the baseball handbook, but I'd rather take my chances with Ethier- I don't really know.   
• James McDonald: It's hard to overstate how good McDonald was on Friday.  Making his playoff debut, the rookie entered the game to face Pat Burrell with the bases loaded, the Dodgers having already given up four runs to fall behind 8-2.  Any more damage, and all hope basically goes out the window.  No worries. McDonald struck out Burrell, and from there just kept rolling, providing a huge boost for both the pitching staff and the team as a whole.  His final line: 3.1 innings, no runs, two hits, one walk, five strikeouts.  McDonald's work became especially important after Manny's homer cut the deficit to a much more manageable size.  Suddenly, he wasn't assigned mop up duty, but important innings. 
• Clayton Kershaw: Like McDonald, he kept a lid on the Phillies and gave the Dodgers a chance to climb back in the game. 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, leaving in the eighth after a walk to Eric Bruntlett, a mini-mess quickly cleaned up by Cory Wade. 

The Bad:

• Chad Billinsgley: He was great in Chicago, but Friday didn't have it, assuming "it" is an effective repertoire of pitches and good location.  Lifted with one out in the third, his final line was a bigger train wreck than this godawful contribution to American culture.  Eight runs (seven earned), eight hits, three walks.  Worse, most of the damage was done by the bottom of the order, not the red meaters at the top, and his issues in the second all came with two down.  An innocent looking single from Greg Dobbs deep in the hole over second was followed by a double from Carlos Ruiz to score Dobbs, then a single from Myers to plate Ruiz.  Jimmy Rollins then singled to center, and advanced to second when Matt Kemp kicked the ball.  Ruiz and Myers would score on a Shane Victorino single.  A 1-0 Dodgers lead was a 4-1 deficit in the blink of an eye. 

Things only got worse in the third.  Burrell singled to start the frame, Jayson Werth followed with a double, and Dobbs was intentionally walked.  Barely back from commercial break, the Phils had the sacks jammed.  At this point, I thought Bills was done for the night (see below), but he wasn't.  After coaxing a fielder's choice from Ruiz, Myers singled down the line to bring in two more and build the Philly lead to 6-2.  At that point, Torre mercifully pulled the plug.  Which brings me to...

• Joe Torre: Those read the blog regularly know I don't cavalierly call for early inning pitching changes. They are the fire extinguisher behind the glass: Break in case of emergency.  That said, I was shocked that Torre didn't pull the plug on Billingsley after intentionally walking Dobbs in the third.  I thought it was going to happen. I commented on the live blog that it was going to happen.  Would have bet all the money in my wallet.* Chan Ho Park was warming in the pen, and should have been ready to go.  (If he wasn't yet loose, that was another mistake.  Given how the second inning ended, the Dodgers needed to have someone ready heading into the third.)  At that point, even discounting the intentional walk, Billingsley had allowed seven of the last eight guys he faced reach base.  He wasn't fooling anyone, he wasn't locating.  Yes, the bottom of the order was up, but Billinsgley didn't get them out the last go round, either. 

After walking Dobbs, Torre should have grabbed the little hammer, broken the glass, and pulled Billingsley.  The writing was on the wall, and he likely only would have escaped the inning by pure luck.  Last night, I defended Torre's decision to keep Derek Lowe in the game after the righty allowed the game-tying homer to Chase Utley in the sixth.  That, to me, made sense.  Lowe was pitching well.  He let one pitch get away. Billinsgley, however, was struggling mightily. 

Bad move.  Non-move, I should say.

• Joe Beimel: He entered in the third to face Chase Utley, and walked him. He stayed in to face Ryan Howard, and walked him.  Then he was pulled for McDonald.  Not a very effective outing, I'd say. Overall, the Dodgers needed four pitchers to escape the frame.  A rather startling lack of efficiency, I'd say. 

Quotes:

• Torre, on his decision to keep Billingsley in the game after the IBB to Dobbs: "No, he's done too much for us.  He's got the catcher and pitched to the pitcher.  We had a situation where we have the pitcher, and I think he has four hits all year and gets three in this game.  So that's tough to count on and defend against.  We certainly gave up too much early, but to me, Billingsley has been too much to this club to take him out in a situation where he's performed so well (throughout the year)."

The explanation doesn't sway me.  Even had Bills managed to get Myers, was there confidence he'd be able to retire Rollins after him?  Removing Billingsley there wouldn't have been an affront to his contributions during the season, just a recognition that he didn't have good stuff Friday night.

• Torre, on McDonald: I thought McDonald was (outstanding).  To make his first action there in the postseason (a situation of) "Here, the bases are loaded, get this guy out?"  And he strikes out Burrell and then just went on to pitch three more innings, and going through everybody, obviously.  I think we found out a little more about that young man tonight." 
• Billingsley, on his struggles: "It just didn't happen.  I tried to slow the game down, they just had some balls that found holes, they went the other way when I made some quality pitches, and (I they hit others well)." 

Some pitches, he said, were just lousy.  "Bad pitch, bad location."  Others were okay, but were turned into hits anyway. That'll happen in the bigs.  Billingsley is a guy who takes poor performances to heart and his disappointment was palpable. I don't think he crumbled under the pressure- why would tonight be any different than last week in Chicago?  Like he said, "It just didn't happen."  Guys have bad nights, even in the playoffs, and no matter when he was pulled Billingsley would have landed on the wrong end of our breakdown.  He just should have been yanked faster. 

• Nomar, on rebounding:  "We're fine.  We'd better be.  I've been in this situation before, and come back.  That's why you play seven... You just realize that.  You don't worry about it." 
• McDonald, on his performance: "It's a big performance, but I'd rather have had it go the same way it went in Chicago, when Billingsley went seven, then Wade and Broxton, and I get to watch.  That would be fine with me, as long as the team was winning."
• McDonald, on suddenly finding himself in a pretty close game: "When I go into games, I try to always have the same mentality.  No pitcher is going to go and just slouch over. Everybody is a competitor, and nobody is going to lay down.  I've seen this team play for this month and I've seen that they never quit and are always in the game.  So when I went in there, I told myself, "Don't let them get any more," and let's see if the team can get back into the game, which they did."
• The Random Phillies Fan in the Section Next to My Seat: "Write this down: Chad Billingsley stunk it up tonight.  He made Brett Myers (three hits, three RBIs) look like Ty Cobb."

Sums things up neatly, I'd say.

Notes:

• While Torre didn't come out and say it, given that the Blue are guaranteed to be down in the series and used Kershaw tonight, it seems very likely that Derek Lowe will pitch Game 4 Monday night.  He probably would have anyway, but the odds went way up after Friday's result. 
• I mention it in the video, but against 629 year old lefty Jamie Moyer on Sunday, it wouldn't shock me to see a little lineup shuffle, just to change the mojo.  Jeff Kent hit the ball pretty hard tonight, and Nomar had a knock in two plate appearances.  I'm not saying it will happen, but it's not out of the question. 
• I mentioned earlier in the day that Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel's mother passed away this morning.  After, we learned that Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino, who had a monster effort offensively and with the leather (he finished the seventh leaping high against the wall to rob Casey Blake of extra bases and extinguish a huge opportunity for the Blue), lost his grandmother as well.  So it was a bittersweet evening in the Phillies clubhouse, no question. 

More on the game tomorrow.

BK

*Okay, not my wallet, given the lean economic times in which we're living.  But definitely AK's wallet, no question.