It was a memorable night for both the pitching and the offense. Lee and Chad Durbin combined for the third shutout in Phils postseason history, following Curt Schilling's effort in Game 5 of the 1993 World Series, and Steve Carlton's and Al Holland's collaboration in Game 1 of the 1983 NLCS.
The 11-run margin set a record for the most lopsided postseason win in Phillies history.
"We're playing dialed-up baseball," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said.
An offensive romp, highlighted by Carlos Ruiz's continued October excellence, began almost immediately. Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth were a combined 3 for 27 in their careers against Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda.
That was representative of the Phils' performance against Kuroda, 0-1 with a 1.95 earned run average in three regular-season starts against them before last night. The righthander also beat Philadelphia in Game 3 of last year's NLCS.
Because of that history, he seemed a serious threat to the Phils' hopes to take a series lead - although manager Charlie Manuel did not appear to view him that way. "He's due for us to hit him then," Manuel said before the game.
He was right. The top of the lineup hammered Kuroda in the first inning. After Rollins flied out, Victorino singled to center. He stole second with Utley batting, and moved to third when Utley singled.
That brought up Howard, whose reputation for postseason drama has grown exponentially this month. As predictable as a Howard strikeout sometimes seems in the early part of a season, RBIs appear virtually inevitable in autumn. This time, Howard drove in Victorino and Utley, bashing a triple to the right-field corner.
"Full-out panic running around second base," Howard joked later.
