Even when he's hurting, Victorino has a hand in Phillies' win

The day began simply enough for Phillies centerfielder Shane Victorino. As usual, he arrived at Citizens Bank Park several hours before last night's Game 5.

Always a boisterous presence in the clubhouse, Victorino was probably a key element in keeping teammates loose before a game that could have ended their season, although he scoffed at the necessity of that.

"There is no loosening this team up," he said before the game. "We always have fun. When we go out there, we don't play with any kind of desperate measures. We go out there and we just have fun. I think that's why we're able to be so successful and so good. That's what we do is go out there and have fun. Honestly, I don't think any of us are playing tight."

That was evident last night as the Phils held on for an 8-6 win to move the series back up north with the Yankees owning a 3-2 lead.

His afternoon leading up to last night's pivotal game included a short session with the media. Victorino dutifully came to the interview room around 4:20 to take questions for a few minutes. And that's when his day started to get a little strange as he was told of comments made by former Phillies manager and current Los Angeles Dodgers third-base coach Larry Bowa, accusing the Phillies of being notorious sign stealers.

That irked the highly energized Victorino, but not so much that he didn't have some duck-duck-goose fun with a teammate later as the team did stretching drills in centerfield before batting practice.

Then, in the first inning after Jimmy Rollins' leadoff single, Victorino squared to bunt. Yankees starter A.J. Burnett came with a high-and-tight fastball that hit Victorino's right hand while it was still on the bat. He fell to the ground in pain and was attended to immediately by the Phillies' medical personnel, but got up and went to first. After the minor delay, Burnett grooved a first-pitch fastball to Chase Utley, who blasted it out to the seats in rightfield for a 3-1 lead.

After the plunking, Victorino continually looked at and flexed his injured paw, both on the basepaths and in the field during the top of the second. When he returned to the dugout during the home third, he went up the tunnel for X-rays on his right index finger, which were negative.

"Two thumbs up, guys," Victorino said from the chair at his locker stall before turning and facing reporters. "No break, no fracture."

Huge sigh of relief.