Ramirez just misses a mammoth home run

The Phillies hit two home runs in a 3-2 victory over the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLCS.

But the longest hit of the night came off the bat of Los Angeles slugger Manny Ramirez, who blasted an RBI double off the wall above the 419-foot sign in the deepest part of Citizens Bank Park.

If Ramirez's hit goes anywhere but the cut-out corner with a 19-foot-high wall in left-center field, it's a home run.

"I guess I have to work on my angle," Ramirez said with a smile in the Dodgers' clubhouse. "What can I say? I don't have control of that."

Ramirez's double gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. L.A. stretched its lead to 2-0, but the Phillies rallied behind home runs by Chase Utley and Pat Burrell.

"You have to give those guys credit," Ramirez said. "They played a great game. They are not going to give it to us. They got a good offense, good pitching. They deserved to win."

Ramirez admitted he thought his blast off Phillies starter Cole Hamels was a home run. He took his time down the first-base line, then had to scramble to make it to second base when the ball ricocheted back to centerfielder Shane Victorino.

"I thought so," Ramirez said when he was asked if he thought he had a home run.

The Phillies didn't pitch around Ramirez, even though the Dodgers' leftfielder is regarded as one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball, especially in the postseason.

Ramirez has hit safely in 39 of his last 44 postseason games, with a .353 average (59 for 167).

But Hamels went after Ramirez with Andre Ethier on second in the first, and again with Ethier on first in the third. That time, Ramirez popped out.

Ramirez singled to center in the fifth but was stranded. He lined out to third against Phillies reliever Ryan Madson in the eighth.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre said he wasn't surprised the Phillies went after Ramirez.

"We've got some pretty good hitters behind him," Torre said. "And early in the game, I mean, you're not going to start walking him - I don't think, anyway - in the first inning."

Ramirez said he enjoyed the "energy" from the crowd when he was in left field.

"It was like that when we played in Chicago," Ramirez said. "There was great energy, fans pulling for their team."

A postseason veteran, Ramirez said the Dodgers have to forget about Game 1.

"There's nothing we can do about it now," Ramirez said. "We just have to come out and try to win the next game. It's over. Give them credit."

Ramirez didn't argue when a television reporter noted that his first-inning hit traveled farther than the home runs by Utley and Burrell.

In fact, he was thinking along the same lines during a brief conversation with Utley at second base after his double.

"I told him, 'That's a home run in L.A.' " Ramirez said. "But we're not in L.A."

or panastasia@phillynews.com.