As the old saying goes, "When a team has more errors than runs, they probably lost."  Such was the case Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, as the curtain came down on a very strange 2008 season for the Blue with a 5-1 loss to Philadelphia in Game 5 of the NLCS.  Most fans understood the dreams of a World Series bound Dodgers team suffered a debilitating blow after they let Monday's lead slip away, but hoped the home team could come out with some fire and send the series back to Philadelphia.  Instead, the Dodgers went out with a whimper, shut down and frustrated by an ace-caliber lefty in Cole Hamels while self-destructing on the mound and in the field.  On a night that required they be sharp in all facets, the Dodgers came up short.  Well short.  To wit:   

• Chad Billingsley: On the heels of a terrible Game 2 performance that damaged his reputation well beyond his poor mound work, Billingsley was just as ineffective Wednesday night.  Jimmy Rollins led off with a solo homer giving the visitors an important early lead.  Billingsley seemed to settle down until, in a moment reeking of deja vu, he once again found trouble with two outs in the third. A walk, two hits, and a wild pitch meant two more runs for Philadelphia, and that was it for Bills.
• Rafael Furcal: In a disastrous fifth inning that hammered home the final nails in LA's big blue coffin, Raffy was charged with three errors leading to two more runs for Philadelphia, giving them a 5-0 lead. 
• Bats: Everyone knew opportunities would be hard to find against Hamels, and he held up his end of the bargain.  But there were chances, the Dodgers just didn't take advantage.  Blake DeWitt had a particularly tough night, grounding into two double plays.  Jeff Kent struck out to end a rally in the seventh.  Russell Martin was a black hole in the middle of the order, an 0-4 night capping a brutal series, an NLCS worth of frustration boiling over after a called third strike in his third at bat ended LA's half of the sixth.  Andre Ethier and Furcal each took an oh-fer.  It just wasn't a good night for the sticks.

But really, none of that matters right now.  Dodger fans will spend the next few days and weeks trying to wrap their heads around what was in sum an infuriating, joyous, exasperating and exciting year.  Game 5 of the NLCS marked the team's deepest run into the postseason since winning it all in '88.  On the other hand, the Blue only won 84 games in the regular season, advancing to the playoffs by virtue of a weak division.   

Fans can, and ultimately should, relish the excitement of the last few weeks, of a group that rallied to win the West and swept the Cubs.  But looking forward, it'll be hard to feel comfortable with the team, because nobody has a clue what the Dodgers will look like in 2009. 

There are losses, and then there are losses.  There are games easy to forget, and others that stick to the brain like Crazy Glue.  For the Dodgers and their fans, Monday night's 7-5 loss to Philadelphia in Game 4 of the NLDS will definitely go down as the latter.  If ever there was a night I'd like to shine my blogging duties to hear the reaction from the Blue faithful on postgame Dodger Talk, this is it.  Why?  Because almost everything about tonight's game can be questioned.  Derek Lowe, pitching on short rest, was pulled after the fifth, by far his most effective inning.  From there, Joe Torre used a parade of relievers.  Clayton Kershaw, Chan Ho Park, Joe Beimel, Hong-Chih Kuo, Cory Wade, and Jonathan Broxton all found their way into the box score, and only Beimel, who pitched to one batter, managed to escape damage.  The big inning was the eighth, when the Phillies erased a 5-3 Dodgers lead with a pair of two-run bombs, the first from Shane Victorino, the encore courtesy of Matt Stairs. 

Meanwhile, the Dodgers put some runners on base and runs on the board... but always with the sense that there could have been more.  They kept Philadelphia in the game, and eventually the Phillies thanked them for their hospitality.  Walking in the clubhouse after it was over, the sense of missed opportunity was palpable.  The series was their's to tie.  They knew it, we could see it, the 56,800 packed into the Ravine could taste it.  An epic Game 5 on Wednesday, Chad Billingsley vs. Cole Hamels. 

So close.  Now the Dodgers take tomorrow off (literally, as Torre canceled their scheduled workout), and will have to win three straight if they're to advance.  It's happened before, but the odds aren't favorable. 

Click below for the breakdown. 

But not nearly as dour as Eddie Vedder. 

In the most literal of senses, tonight's 7-2 win over the Phillies wasn't a "must win."  After all, this was merely Game 3 of the NLCS championship, and should the Dodgers have worsened their 0-2 status to 0-3, they would have been allowed four more games to win out.  But "literal" and "realistic" aren't always kissing cousins.  Thus, if you're a person who believes in playing percentages likely to reach fruition, you'd have labeled the Dodgers "grass" to Philadelphia's metaphorical lawnmower if the Blue dropped another one. 

Thankfully, they not only avoided such a fate, but put any concerns to rest in quick and decisive fashion with a quintet of runs racked before the first inning elapsed.  Cushion established, the Dodgers rarely encountered much adversity outside of a few stare downs over Dodgers hit and/or just missed and a third inning, bench-clearing dust up in response to said Dodgers hit and/or just missed.  But for the most part, they met little resistance in protecting their box score and gaining a more solid hold of their objective.  "You win a game and you have good feeling about yourself and maybe hopefully you've planted a seed of doubt," praised Joe Torre of his team.

The breakdown is below.

How about coming back from a 2-0 NLCS deficit? 

Like it or not (I assume you're going with "not") that's the reality facing the Dodgers after Friday evening's 8-5 loss to the Phillies in Game 2 at Citizen's Bank Park.  Earlier I had expressed the belief that Thursday's opener was more important for Philadelphia, because had they lost with Cole Hamels on the mound, the entire series could be yanked out from under them. Tonight, though, was huge for the Blue.  Mercurial righty Brett Myers took the hill for Philadelphia, while staff ace (or at least staff ace 1-a) Chad Billingsley got the start for LA.  On paper, it's advantage Dodgers.  In practice, only one end of the bargain held up.  Myers, at least on the mound, wasn't very good.  Five innings, six hits, four walks, five earned.  Unfortunately, by comparison Billingsley made Myers look like the second coming of Christy Mathewson.  He faded fast after a solid first inning, hitting the showers before the end of the third.  Four runs (three earned) in the second, four more in the third.  All of Philadelphia's runs accounted for, all hung on Billingsley. 

The Dodgers made a game of it on Manny's three run bomb in the fourth, but never got any closer.  Now they head back to LA needing to win two of three just to send the series back to the city of Rocky.  In short, they can't be the fighter who takes the punches, shows he's got scrap, and gets the nice girl from the pet shop but eventually loses.  No, they need to be the Rocky that should have thrown the damn towel, trains in the Siberian wilderness, takes his punches, then singlehandedly ends the Cold War.

Click below for the breakdown. 

Thursday night during Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Citizen's Bank Park in Philly, the Dodgers spent eight innings in the field.  Seven were ducky.  One was ugly, and that was enough for Philadelphia to escape with a 3-2 win and a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series.  While few Dodgers fans expected the Blue to roll undefeated through the postseason, most will look back at the proceedings believing the Dodgers could have just as easily come out on top.  In that, they'll get no disagreement from the team.  Clearly it was a winnable game... yet here we are.

The critical moment came in Philadelphia's half of the sixth with the Dodgers up 2-0, when the home team touched up Derek Lowe for all three of their runs.  Not to belabor the point (plenty of that coming down the page) but it started with a two-base error from Rafael Furcal, who threw wide of James Loney at first on a Shane Victorino grounder to lead off the inning.  Chase Utley then crushed Lowe's next pitch over the wall in right.  Two batters later, Pat Burrell hit an almost identical pitch into the stands in left. 

The Phillies got the performance they had to have from ace lefty Cole Hamels.  He allowed single runs in the first and fourth, but was otherwise nearly unhittable, going seven strong innings, allowing six hits (including only one for extra bases after the first) and striking out eight en route to the win.  The Dodgers put some good wood on Brad Lidge in the ninth, but deep shots from Matt Kemp and Casey Blake were, in the end, just loud outs. 

The Blue will look to knot things up Friday afternoon, sending Chad Billingsley to the hill against Brett Myers.  In a seven game series losing the first isn't cause for blowing the doomsday whistle, but nobody wants to go home down 0-2. 

Click below for the breakdown.

Well, the Dodgers could be in trouble, because Frank McCourt's bubbly expenses are going through the roof.  For the second time in a barely more than a week, the Dodgers had themselves a clubhouse celebration, this time thanks to their NLDS clinching 3-1 win over the Cubs Saturday night at the Ravine.  For the third straight game, the Dodgers outclassed the class of the National League's regular season, getting yet another outstanding performance from a starting pitcher (6.1 scoreless from Hiroki Kuroda), more timely hitting (a two out double in the first from James Loney that took air out of the Cubs early), and faboo relief work (a four out save from Jonathan Broxton).  In response, Chicago did... well, not nearly as many of those things. 

By sweeping the Chicago, the Dodgers not only advanced but made a pretty authoritative statement that they are, in fact, a very good team, one capable of continuing to win games.   Milwaukee's 4-1 win over Philadelphia at Miller Park means the Dodgers don't yet have an opponent when NLCS play opens on Thursday, but at this point they certainly feel they can beat either squad.  Can't say I disagree. 

For the first time in two decades, the Dodgers have advanced in the playoffs.  That alone should make you smile well into next week.  Click below for the breakdown. 

Having taken the wind out of the Cubs' sails with a series opening win, the Dodgers' game plan likely revolved around wasting little time preventing the local winds from gusting Chicago's ship back into motion.  And the Cubs are nothing if not hospitable hosts, because they beat the Dodgers to the punch and did the work for them.  It would be tempting to say the Cubs handed the Dodgers a 10-3 win on a platter, but that infers Chicago was capable of holding onto said platter and making the exchange.  Judging by the bungled leather displayed during a devastating second inning, those would be long odds. 

It all started when Ryan Theriot made an odd decision to attempt a barehanded grab of James Loney's hit-and-gap shot to the hole at short.  He probably could snared it using that glove thingamajig on his hand, but bad judgment led to the ball glancing off his paw into left and Andre Ethier taking third.  From there, Mark DeRosa and Derek Lee's back-to-back errors on at bats from Blake's DeWitt and Casey served to create a Blue avalanche and allow viewers watching in HD to see wisps of steam come out of Carlos Zambrano's ears. One pitching conference and a Chad Billingsley strikeout later, Chicago had hope for escaping this debacle relatively unscathed.  But then Raffy Furcal laid down a perfect bunt drag past Zambrano and beat out DeRosa's quick toss to Lee as Loney crossed the plate.  Cue Russell Martin clearing the base paths with a three-run double. 

Floodgates now opened, the Dodgers were able to reap the fruits of a large and in charge Chad Billingsley. 

The San Francisco Giants aren't the Chicago Cubs or the Philadelphia Phillies, but that's a discussion for a different night.  For now, praise Greg Maddux for career win 355, which came in LA's 2-1 win Saturday night, putting him one ahead of Roger Clemens on the all-time list.  There are many baseball fans, I'm sure, who are happy to see him move a spot in front of the Rocket.  As for the game, Maddux was outstanding, throwing six innings of two hit, one run ball, needing only 47 pitches (38 of which were strikes) to get it done.

Rafael Furcal had two hits in four at bats, Blake DeWitt was 3-4 with two RBIs, including a solo homer in the third and a tie breaking single in the seventh. 

The Blue finish the regular season Sunday against the Giants, but still don't know who they'll play in the first round of the playoffs.  The Mets will send Oliver Perez to the mound against Florida's Scott Olsen, while in Milwaukee, CC Sabathia will face Chicago's Angel Guzman, inserted into the rotation for a resting Carlos Zambrano.  If both New York and the Brewers win, there will be a one game playoff Monday to determine the Wild Card qualifier. 

BK

Because being in the clubhouse under those circumstances, even after an ultimately meaningless 7-5 loss to the Padres, is a seriously fun time.  And with that atmosphere in mind, I've decided to forgo with the standard "Good/Bad/Ugly" breakdown for a few reasons.

1) Like I said, the game was meaningless, so is a formal analysis really necessary? 

2) I was afraid to bring any audio/video equipment of value into a clubhouse that makes Kevin Costner's "Waterworld" look like it was set in a desert.  Good call, by the way.  The digital recorder I was willing to risk getting toasted to take verbal notes is just now starting to work.

3) Interviews generally fall apart when the subject and reporter are getting stuff poured on them.

Thus, I decided to provide some highlights/general observations from the chaos that is a title-clinching post-game clubhouse.  And without further adieu...

Folks like John Nash and his ilk will likely grow indignant and outraged over such a conclusion, but if you're a Dodger fan, the math above will strike you as anything but fuzzy.  For the confused purists, here's how it all breaks down.  You take a 12-4 Dodger win over the Padres, add it to a 4-2 loss by the Arizona Diamondbacks and what total naturally pops up behind the "equals" sign?  1, which constitutes the Blue's current magic number before a playoff berth is clinched. 

Pretty simple if you ask me, but if you're still confused, there's an easy way to check my work.  It doesn't require an abacus.  You don't even need to fumble around with a calculator.  Just peruse a box score and the figures are guaranteed to add up.  Sure, the uber-stodgy egghead crowd may keep their noses fixed upward, but let them have their logarithms and fancy pants long division.  You're the ones with a team on the verge of October baseball.  And probably a better social life to boot (I'm just saying).

The breakdown is below.