Matt Kemp

New York's new chant: 'We like Ike' It's official. New Yorkers are swooning over rookie first baseman Ike Davis in a manner heretofore reserved only for Yankees. But Davis - the son of ex-Yankee reliever Ron Davis - wears the blue and orange of the Mets. And judging from the early response to his sizzling start, he's going to be in the rather sparse pantheon of Mets superheroes. "In just nine games, Davis has become the face of the Mets," gushed columnist Kevin Kernan of the New York Post.

THE PLAY: Chan Ho Park, last seen grabbing his hamstring on the Citizens Bank Park mound on Sept. 16, reappeared on the Dodger Stadium mound in the bottom of the seventh inning with no outs and the tying run on second base. Oh, yeah, did we mention the meat of LA's order was about to come to the plate? THE SETUP: After J.A. Happ, who had escaped a bases-loaded situation in the sixth, allowed a leadoff double to Andre Ethier, Park was called on to preserve the Phillies' 5-4 lead.

Phillies vs. Dodgers (Phils split the series, 4-4) AT LOS ANGELES (Aug. 11-14) Dodgers 8, Phillies 6 WP: Derek Lowe; LP: Kyle Kendrick; S: Jonathan Broxton Top hitters: Phillies - Chase Utley (3 hits, 2 RBI, 2 doubles), Jimmy Rollins (single, triple); Dodgers - James Loney (3 hits, 3 RBI), Casey Blake (2-run HR), Jeff Kent (3 hits, RBI), Manny Ramirez (2 hits, 2 RBI) What happened: Blake and Ramirez knocked in two runs apiece in a six-run third to knock out Kendrick.

4:05 p.m., Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles. TV: Fox. Radio: WPHT (1210-AM); WUBA (1480-AM) Spanish. Phillies RHP Joe Blanton (4-3, 5.86) vs. Dodgers RHP Hiroki Kuroda (1-1, 2.53) Phillies update: The Phillies have won the last four games Blanton has pitched, the last three of which he has recorded victories ... Blanton is coming off two strong starts against the Marlins and Padres in which he allowed three runs and struck out 16 in 14 innings ... Blanton pitched twice against the Dodgers last season, going 0-0 with a 4.09 ERA in 11 innings ... 2B Chase Utley is 2-for-6 in his career off Kuroda.

He looked like Mighty Casey. And then the Dodgers' night - and Casey Blake's - ended badly, like the poem goes. Blake's home run gave the Dodgers the lead in Game 4 last night, but the bullpen gave it back. "The bullpen, those guys have been great all year long," Blake said. "It's going to happen. "Yeah, it's tough. At this point in the season, you need every win you can get. It looks like things are in your favor, and then they cash in two big home runs. " Like Manny Ramirez, Blake joined the Dodgers with the season in progress.

What we're talking about following the Phillies win over the Dodgers in Game 4: The Phillies need only one win in their next three games to advance to the World Series for the first time since 1993 ... and only the sixth time in franchise history. Staff ace Cole Hamels can wrap it up in Game 5 tomorrow night. When the Phillies picked up veteran bat Matt Stairs from the Blue Jays on Aug. 30 for a player to be named later, it hardly seemed like big deal. It became a big deal in the eighth inning last night when Stairs hit a game-winning, two-run homer off Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton.

FORMER ALL-STAR third baseman Robin Ventura is replacing the fiery Ozzie Guillen as manager of the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox say that Ventura agreed to a multiyear deal yesterday. A longtime star with the White Sox, Ventura was hired by the club last June as a special adviser to director of player development Buddy Bell. Ventura is the 38th White Sox manager overall, including 17 who played for the team. Guillen was released from his contract with 1 year remaining after eight seasons with the White Sox and immediately was hired by the Florida Marlins as their manager.

Here is proof that the Los Angeles Angels actually play in nearby Anaheim, home of Disneyland and other dreamers, like Mike Butcher . In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the Angels pitching coach said he would take Jered Weaver , Dan Haren , and Ervin Santana "over anybody's top three starters. " Even over the Phillies' aces? "Absolutely," Butcher replied. "We're not pitching to a pitcher. I obviously respect what they do in Philadelphia.

Matt Kemp had no issue with those geeky fans who Web-voted Shane Victorino the final All-Star Game berth. And when Carlos Beltran got hurt and Charlie Manuel turned to Jayson Werth instead, that was OK, too. "It really doesn't matter," Kemp said yesterday before the Dodgers worked out for today's National League Championship Series opener. "I'm in the playoffs right now. I don't even care about middle-of-the-season stats. I'm where a lot of people want to be. " That's what Kemp said.

As the media contingent was overflowing yesterday in the Los Angeles Dodgers' locker room talking to Manny Ramirez, third baseman Casey Blake pretty much had all the space in the world. Ramirez is a flamboyant future Hall of Famer, while Blake is just known as a solid professional. While he didn't begin to approach Manny-like statistics, Blake's addition after being traded from Cleveland on July 26 for two minor-league players was a key move in enabling the Dodgers to win the National League West title.

A resplendent late summer sun rose Saturday over the grandstands at Citizens Bank Park. Birds twittered gaily. The landscaping showed its brightest greens. And Matt Kemp - a South Philly resident out for a brisk morning walk - could hardly contain his emotion. "I want to puke," the 27-year-old said, still dressed in the rumpled Roy Halladay jersey he'd slept in the night before. "I feel like I've been punched in the gut. " As Phillies fans woke up a day after the team's season-ending 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, Saturday's gorgeous weather offered only salt to rub in their fresh wounds.

FORMER ALL-STAR third baseman Robin Ventura is replacing the fiery Ozzie Guillen as manager of the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox say that Ventura agreed to a multiyear deal yesterday. A longtime star with the White Sox, Ventura was hired by the club last June as a special adviser to director of player development Buddy Bell. Ventura is the 38th White Sox manager overall, including 17 who played for the team. Guillen was released from his contract with 1 year remaining after eight seasons with the White Sox and immediately was hired by the Florida Marlins as their manager.

Here is proof that the Los Angeles Angels actually play in nearby Anaheim, home of Disneyland and other dreamers, like Mike Butcher . In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the Angels pitching coach said he would take Jered Weaver , Dan Haren , and Ervin Santana "over anybody's top three starters. " Even over the Phillies' aces? "Absolutely," Butcher replied. "We're not pitching to a pitcher. I obviously respect what they do in Philadelphia.

LOS ANGELES - On the long list of worries that can keep Charlie Manuel from a restful night's sleep, the absence of a second lefthanded reliever ranks just above the absence of a can of Diet Coke in his office minifridge. That said, if you are looking for ways the Phillies can further tighten their current death grip on the top of the National League standings, the bullpen is the place to start. Take yesterday, for example. The Phillies entered the seventh inning with a 9-7 lead, having overcome the 6-0 cushion the Dodgers built against rookie righthander Vance Worley.

LOS ANGELES - There is a reason why they boo Shane Victorino all over the big leagues, why they treat one of the game's most happy-go-lucky players like he is Ron Artest. One of those reasons is the suspension he received prior to last night's game. Another is the home run he hit to help ice it. When the ninth inning began, the Phillies were swerving down the road with their lugnuts loose and oil dripping out their back. After 6 1/3 innings of solid pitching out of Roy Halladay, the Dodgers had scored two runs in the eighth to pull within a run. What looked like sure victory had spiraled into something far different.

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers got their first hit with two out in the ninth inning Saturday and still beat the San Diego Padres, 1-0, when Dioner Navarro singled in Juan Uribe for the unlikely victory. Uribe was down to his last strike when he drove a pitch from Luke Gregerson (2-2) over the head of leftfielder Chris Denorfia for a double. It was Los Angeles' first hit and only the second hit of the game for either team. The Padres have never had a no-hitter in their 43-year history.

Matt Kemp had four hits, including his NL-leading 22nd home run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers had a little fun after a tough day by routing the skidding Minnesota Twins, 15-0, last night in Minneapolis. Chad Billingsley cruised through six innings, combining with three relievers on Los Angeles' seventh shutout of the season. Casey Blake had a home run among his three hits for the Dodgers, who filed for bankruptcy protection earlier in the day. Billingsley (7-6) allowed four hits and struck out four to win his second straight interleague start, backed by an offense that set season highs for runs and hits (25)

AN HOUR after Cole Hamels put the finishing touches on his latest masterpiece, weathering stifling heat to pitch eight dominant innings in a 2-0 victory over his latest victim, somebody reminded him of the last time he had faced the Dodgers. "Yeah," Hamels said in a sarcastic tone. "I love that game. " That game was Game 5 of the 2009 National League Championship Series. The Phillies clinched their second straight World Series berth that night, but Hamels watched the majority of it from the sideline, having been yanked by Charlie Manuel with one out in the fifth inning after allowing his third home run of the game.

The second-largest crowd to ever cram into Citizens Bank Park for a regular-season game came in search of the real Cliff Lee Monday, almost certain that was either Matt Beech or Omar Daal or some other forgettable lefthander who had confiscated Lee's uniform in recent starts. Lee gave the kind of performance that has so endeared him to this city's baseball fans, pitching seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts and one walk as the Phillies opened a 10-game homestand by scraping past the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1. Early on, it was no breeze for Lee. He used his resourcefulness to fight his way out of a couple of early jams before settling into the kind of groove that had been missing in some of his recent starts.