* Charlie Manuel. The Phillies' manager might not have as much stomach as he used to after losing more than 50 pounds. But he still has plenty of guts. Starting Martinez over Joe Blanton or J.A. Happ was a huge gamble that paid off large.
* Manuel (Hindsight edition): Why take out Martinez when he had thrown only 87 pitches? It wasn't Chan Ho Park's fault that Casey Blake's grounder went off Pedro Feliz' glove at third, that Ronnie Belliard dropped a perfect bunt, and that Chase Utley made another wild throw on a doubleplay. The bottom line, though, was that Manuel ended up using five relievers in the eighth and the Dodgers scored the go-ahead runs immediately after Martinez departed.
* Chase Utley. In each of the first two NLCS games, he airmailed a relay throw to first. Yesterday's came in the eighth and helped cost the Phillies the game. The Phillies have to hope this doesn't get into Utley's head. Paging Chuck Knoblauch?
* Vicente Padilla. The Rangers released him last summer, even though they were in the middle of a pennant race. The Phillies couldn't say adios fast enough after the 2005 season ended. But Padilla, who can be a free agent this winter, has pitched like a man is search of a rich payday since being picked off the scrap heap by the Dodgers. One run in 7 1/3 innings is good enough to win most days.
