raul-ibanezGeorge Sherill had only give up two earned runs in 30 innings since arriving in Los Angeles this summer. He was thought to be the flame-throwing lefty who could quell the Phillies’ left-handed-laden lineup. But in the 8th inning, he walked two batters and a threw a “cement mixer” to Raul Ibanez that was juiced into the stands for a three-run homer. Despite a few shaky moments by Mark Ryan Madsen in the 8th, home field advantage was bogarted.

Phillies 8, Dodgers 6. Charlie Manuel took these flashy white shoes and celebrated at Dan Tana’s.

Pithy observations from a guy who was also watching The Office, Cincinnati-South Florida, and last year’s 2nd-to-last episode of Friday Night Lights (reason below):

* All Carlos Ruiz does is kill the Dodgers. Last year in the NLCS: .344 with a homer and four RBI. Last night, he tomahawked a three-run homer for a 5-1 bulge. It prompted us to text a commenter: “Get Phillies-Yankees tickets. We’re in.”
* Chip Caray is now your problem, National League. The King of the Cliche used fisted in the 2nd inning to describe a Manny Ramirez at-bat, and that’s what prompted us to fire up the DVR. How good was that State Championship for the Dillon Panthers?
* The prospects of a “Freeway” World Series just took a major hit. Unless you want to count 95 South as a freeway (we’ve forever known it as “highway”). The Phillies and Yankees are only about two hours apart.
* Pedro takes the mound this afternoon in game two for the Phillies. Vicente Padilla, who baffled the Cardinals in game three, is pitching for the Dodgers. This obviously is must-win for Los Angeles, who can be written off if it have to travel east down 0-2 and facing Cliff Lee in game three.

That’s for the FNL fans.