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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Lidge, Phils return to form

Just in time for NLCS rematch with Dodgers

Pat Graham Associated Press

DENVER – Brad Lidge was at the center of the celebrations, mobbed on the mound and then later bathed in bone-chilling ice water inside the clubhouse.

Those recent ninth-inning meltdowns? A fading memory for the Philadelphia Phillies closer.

Lidge was struggling badly going into the National League Division Series against the Colorado Rockies, blowing a league-high 11 saves during the regular season.

Four big outs, two saves and zero runs later, the Phillies just might have their dominant closer back. The timing couldn’t be better.

Lidge struck out Troy Tulowitzki to end Game 4 on Monday, sending the defending World Series champions on to the N.L. Championship Series. They’ll play Thursday night against Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium in an NLCS rematch from last year.

Just like Lidge, the Phillies are rounding into shape.

Cliff Lee pitched two masterful games against Colorado and the offense rediscovered the long ball after a brief power outage.

These are looking more and more like the Phillies that beat the Tampa Bay Rays in five games during last season’s World Series.

A talented Phillies team was swept out of the playoffs by the streaking Rockies in 2007, leaving a bitter feeling. That fueled their postseason run last season, and they’re picking up steam again in 2009.

“That kind of told us that we weren’t quite ready,” manager Charlie Manuel said of the series loss in ’07. “That we had to improve mentally and physically.”

The Phillies have done just that.

But the celebration Monday was short-lived. The Phillies shifted their attention back to the Dodgers, a team they went 3-4 against in the regular season.

“We know we have a long ways to go. So this is the last party,” Jimmy Rollins said. “We know that it’s going to be a great series – just like this one.”

All season long, the Phillies have proven adept at the art of the comeback. That was the case again in the series clincher Monday as they rallied for three runs in the ninth off Huston Street.

The usually reliable Rockies reliever gave up a two-out, two-run double to Ryan Howard and the go-ahead single to Jayson Werth.

All that came after Philadelphia squandered the lead an inning before. Yet the Phillies surged back again, which is becoming a trait of this team.

“We get to a point where nobody wants to make the last out,” Rollins said. “It’s not spoken about. Everybody goes up there and concentrates more. You try to do whatever you have to do to get on and score runs.”

Street knew closing the game wasn’t going to be easy. It never is against Philadelphia’s potent lineup, which led the N.L. in homers for the second straight season with a franchise-record 224.

“They’re good players,” Street said. “That group battles you over there.”

And wins in all sorts of ways, not just with the long ball. The Phillies didn’t have their first multihomer game until Game 4, when Shane Victorino and Werth went deep.

Until then, they found other avenues.

Like catching a break Sunday when Chase Utley reached on a ninth-inning infield single that should have been ruled a foul ball because it grazed him in the batter’s box. The Phillies parlayed that into a sacrifice fly by Howard in a 6-5 win.

Plate umpire Jerry Meals admitted after the game that he missed the call. But Rockies manager Jim Tracy refused to harp on the play, saying there were other factors – such as an inability to come through in the clutch on offense – that led to Colorado’s demise.