Slugger

With a palpable sense of Philadelphia's hunger for a championship, Brett Myers pitched like Adam Eaton tonight but hit like Chase Utley.

He gave up five runs in five innings, but he had three singles in as many at bats with two runs and three RBI. He paced an offense that finally stirred with eight runs, 11 hits and seven walks. His second hit knocked out Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley. Myers even seemed to shake his head in disbelief after his third hit.

The Phillies scored four runs each in the 2nd and 3rd innings, when they sent nine and 10 batters to the plate, respectively.

Although Myers didn't pitch well, the game wasn't as close as the 8-5 final would indicate. In the 4th, Myers struck out Rafael Furcal with two outs, but he reached base when the ball scooted by Carlos Ruiz. Russell Martin followed with a single, then Manny Ramirez hit a meaningless home run. He pointed at the fans like a jackass while he rounded the bases. Yes, I tolerated this when he was on the Red Sox, but I never liked it.

The only other real drama came in the 7th. Ryan Madson relieved J.C. Romero with a man on first. Madson gave up a single, and then Casey Blake hit a rocket to center field, scaring the crowd, but Shane Victorino made a nice grab at the wall to end the threat.

We haven't heard anything about how the sun might have affected play, but it was brutal in our eyes for the early part of the game and cast some long shadows.

We sat in the 300 level between 1st base and right field, and we were blinded and baking until the sun dipped down past the walls of the stadium. I noted that it was, in the middle of October, probably the nicest weather we've had all year.

Observations from the stands: This was our first NLCS game, and it seemed that MLB, not the Phillies, ran the show. Our usual entrance was gated off, the $10 programs were not really Phils-centric, and the scorecards sucked with really tiny boxes. I have to figure something else out if {when} we go to another game this year.

Before the game, Brad Lidge got his Comeback Player of the Year Award and Ryan Howard got his September Clutch Player of the Month award. ... A Navy Color Guard from the Willow Grove Air Station presented the colors, and Chris Sapienza sang the anthem, complete with fireworks. ... Jim Eisenreich tossed the first pitch. Announcer Dan Baker noted he had a .324 batting average as a Phillie and drove in six RBI in the 1993 World Series. Actually, it was seven. ... Lots of fans had signs for birthday boy Pat Burrell, who was also honored as a star of the game on the scoreboard. ... Phan-o-vision was in our section. The guy next to me got on the big screen. We had no interest. Kudos to that guy for buying a souvenir bat for a little kid on whom he spilled a little beer. It wasn't the guy's fault; a lady walking past him in the aisle knocked into it. ... The Phanatic overshot the crowd with the hot dog launcher, and a hot dog landed on the park's roof. Hopefully one of the fireworks guys found it. ... Petty Officer 1st Class Dorcus Whigham sang God Bless America. ... Random jerseys spotted in the crowd: Russell Martin and Sandy Koufax, Kevin Millwood, Kevin Jordan and a couple of Adam Eatons. The Eatons were two guys sitting next to each other; one wore No. 23, the other No. 00. Bizarre.

Phillies Phever rising: At times the atmosphere was disappointing, but toward the end of the game, there was no doubt this town is ready for its first winner since 1980.

Towels twirled all night, making it snow lint. Chants alternated between "Beat L.A." and "Let's Go Phillies."

It roared at the end as Lidge struggled a bit, but he never really put fear into the crowd.

I can only imagine what this place will be like if this series, or the next one, were to be clinched on home soil.

With the win, the Phillies head to California up 2-0. The series isn't over, but it couldn't have started any better for them.

It's odd, but they got two games in the books before the Red Sox and Rays played an inning.

Game 1 started tonight and, as expected, it was a tight pitcher's duel between Daisuke Matsuzaka and James Shields.

Dice-K took a no-hitter into the 7th, and the Sox lead 2-0 in the 8th. But I'm not happy they let Dice start the 8th inning. I'm going to watch the rest of the game, but I have to shut things down here because we're waking up at 5 a.m. for our trip tomorrow.