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Victorino slams Phillies to commanding NLDS lead

Oct 3, 2008 - 5:03 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Phillies are one win away from the National League Championship Series, and they have Brett Myers and Shane Victorino to thank.

Victorino hit a grand slam and Myers settled in to toss seven solid innings, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday in Game Two of the National League Division Series.

Pedro Feliz added an RBI double for the Phillies, who hold a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Game Three is Saturday in Milwaukee.

"This thing ain't over yet," Brewers manager Dale Sveum said. "We get to go home now. (If) we win Saturday, it's a different ballgame."

Myers not only pitched brilliantly but put his bat on display as well, working a key walk in front of Victorino's blast and singling in the fifth.

Myers batted .069 during the regular season, going 4-for-58 at the plate with one RBI.

"I know I'm a terrible hitter, but I really can't explain it," Myers said. "It was kind of freakish, basically."

CC Sabathia, who went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in 17 starts for the Brewers after a midseason trade with the Cleveland Indians, ran into trouble in the second.

The hefty lefthander retired Pat Burrell on a deep flyout to lead off the frame before surrendering back-to-back doubles to Jayson Werth and Feliz that evened the score at 1-1. Feliz moved to third on a groundout, bringing Myers to the plate with two outs.

Instead of easily setting down the opposing pitcher, Sabathia (0-1) nibbled with breaking balls and Myers battled right back, fouling off three pitches en route to a nine-pitch walk. Sabathia then walked Jimmy Rollins on four pitches to load the bases.

"Baseball's weird like that, to where you can have a guy that pretty much can't hit a lick go up there and battle a guy that's as good as CC," Myers said.

Victorino made Sabathia pay, driving a 1-2 pitch into the stands in left field to give the Phillies a 5-1 lead. It was the first grand slam in postseason history for the franchise.

"I stayed aggressive. (Sabathia) left me a slider up to hit," Victorino said. "I looked at (left fielder Ryan) Braun stop. It was just the excitement in the air, knowing that we got a little cushion on a guy like CC to get an early lead."

Sabathia, who was making his fifth start in the last 17 days, was lifted after 3 2/3 innings and charged with all five runs and six hits. He walked four and struck out five.

"I don't (think) starting on three days' rest had anything to do with (my performance)," Sabathia said. "All that happened tonight was my ability not to get out of innings, get out of situations."

Sabathia ended up throwing 34 of his 98 pitches in the second inning alone. Myers accounted for 19 of them in two of his at-bats.

"I thought (Myers' at-bats) definitely helped run his pitch count up," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "The only thing I gotta say about CC is he threw more changeups and breaking balls than I expected him to throw."

Myers (1-0), who walked in a run in the first, settled in with the lead and retired 16 of 17 batters between the end of the first and the beginning of the seventh. The righthander was charged with two runs and two hits while walking three, striking out four and hitting a batter.

"Tonight I just tried to work down in the zone and go from there," Myers said. "I felt pretty confident about going out there and locating fastballs down in the zone.

"I just tried to relax as best I can and I was able to do it after the first inning. Especially after we had a 5-1 lead, it was easier to attack the zone."

Myers gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead with the bases-loaded walk to J.J. Hardy, but pitched out of the jam when he got Corey Hart to hit into a 1-2-3 double play.

"We had (the Phillies) on the ropes," Sveum said. "Unfortunately, (Hart) hit a ground ball back to the pitcher and they were able to get out of that inning. Obviously, that was a turning point in the game."

Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero combined for a scoreless eighth. Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth to record his second save in as many days for Philadelphia, which is one win away from its first postseason series win since the 1993 NLCS.

"I got the result I wanted (in Game One), so I felt confident," Lidge said. "Tonight, I just wanted to go out there and be efficient as possible."