Phillies' base stealers have flourished under Lopes

Overlooked amid the superb pitching performance of Cliff Lee and offensive prowess of Ryan Howard and others on Sunday evening was a play that underscored how the Phillies have become so skilled in attacking the opposition. It did not factor decisively in the 11-0 outcome, but as shortstop Jimmy Rollins would later say, it was an example of "how we can beat you in a lot of different ways."

One of those of ways was on display in the first inning in Game 3 when Shane Victorino rapped a one-out single to right. Well aware of the base stealing ability of Victorino - he swiped 25 bases this year - Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda kept him an eye on him over his shoulder, stepped off the rubber, reset and tossed over to first. But as Kuroda again peered in for his signal, began his windup and committed to home plate, Victorino took off for second and beat the throw by catcher Russell Martin. He then scored on a single by Chase Utley. By the end of the inning, the Phillies had scored four runs on four hits and led 4-0.

"We were just playing our style of baseball," said Rollins, who led the Phillies this year with 31 steals. "Thank Davey Lopes."

An accomplished base stealer during his playing career - the former Dodgers second baseman once stole a then-record 38 consecutive bases in 1975 - Lopes has imparted his wisdom on the Phillies' running game, which has been exceptional in the 3 years he has been with the club as first-base coach. The Phillies have stolen 100 or more bases in those 3 years and have had the highest stolen base percentage of any team at 84.5 percent (393-465). While Lopes would not speculate on how the presence of the running game affected Kuroda, he did say that the steal by Victorino, "got us doing what we are capable of doing."

"What we try to do is get our top two guys on base [Rollins and Victorino] and cause some havoc," Lopes said. "Even if we do not end up stealing a base, the thought that we may do it could cause the pitcher to be quicker to the plate. And if he is quicker to the plate he could lose something off his pitch or could get a little wild. But we feel if the opportunity presents itself for us to run, we are going to run. That is just a big part of our offense. We're blessed with speed."