Rafael Furcal

Dock Ellis, the former pitcher best remembered for his flamboyance and social activism as a member of the great Pittsburgh Pirates teams of the 1970s, died yesterday of a liver ailment in California, according to a report on ESPN.com. Ellis' former agent, Tom Reich, confirmed his death. Ellis was 63. Ellis spent 12 years in the majors with Pittsburgh, the New York Yankees, Oakland, Texas and the New York Mets. He retired in 1979 with a record of 138-119, but was best known for several colorful incidents on and off the field.

LOS ANGELES - Not sure whether the Phillies can win seven more this way, but, in October, you just keep trying to get outs however you can get outs. The Phillies got enough of them at the right time and got two home runs at perfect times. It was enough, barely, to win Game 1 of the National League Championship Seies against the Dodgers, 8-6, last night. Charlie Manuel used just about everybody he had in his bullpen. There were a few shaky moments, but every time a Phillies reliever absolutely had to get an out at Dodger Stadium, he got an out. There was J.A. Happ, protecting a one-run lead in the sixth, getting Rafael Furcal to ground out on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded.

The way he was going and getting quick outs, Brandon Webb thought for sure he would finish the game. Webb pitched another gem and, for the first time, has begun a season by winning his first four starts. Barry Zito, on the other hand, has lost his opening four starts for the first time. Webb and the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks beat Zito's San Francisco Giants, 4-1, yesterday in a matchup featuring a pair of former Cy Young Award winners who seem to be headed in different directions.

Scrap the clubhouse speeches Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe and Joe Torre would have been making if the Phillies had won Game 3 about how the 2004 Red Sox came back from a three-game deficit to beat Torre's Yankees and reach the World Series. The Dodgers took Game 3, and if they win today behind No. 1 pitcher Derek Lowe, the seven-game National League Championship Series becomes a best-of-three. The Dodgers won the way they often have lately, with a team that does not much resemble the injury-ridden club that struggled to score earlier in the season.

Charlie Manuel left the madness on the field last night at Dodger Stadium to return to the quiet of his office, but he never stopped smiling and he never stopped feeling the way he felt. Why stop now? "I've been to the World Series, but I've never really won one," Manuel said. "This is going to be the year. I can feel it, yeah. " The Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1, in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series to clinch their first NL pennant since 1993 and put them four victories away from their first World Series championship in 28 years and their second in their 125-year history.

Rich Dubee believes that Jamie Moyer's mind, not his body, will dictate when the 46-year-old lefthander retires. Moyer is already pitching at an unlikely age and throwing his fastball about 80 m.p.h.; in a sense, his physical gifts began to wane long ago, and his intelligence has carried him to late-career success. "As long as he remains committed, I don't see why he would have to stop," the Phillies' pitching coach said last week, before Moyer's ugly loss to the New York Mets.

Instead of the parade of taxis that usually delivers visiting players to the loading dock entrance at Milwaukee's Miller Park, the New York Mets rode in together on a bus from their hotel. If they haven't been playing as a team lately, they at least could arrive as one. Ryan Church couldn't recall ever riding to a game on a team bus in his career. Francisco Rodriguez said it was "a little weird. " "A little bonding time with everybody," starter Mike Pelfrey said. Maybe it was a coincidence, but the Mets went on to break a season-worst five-game losing streak with a 1-0 victory yesterday despite a career-high 12 strikeouts from Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo.

Manny Ramirez hit a pair of RBI singles to key an early outburst last night against struggling starter Livan Hernandez, and Randy Wolf pitched the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers past the New York Mets, 11-2, last night for his first win in eight outings. Dropped to seventh in the batting order, slumping All-Star Orlando Hudson responded with a three-run double that capped a four-run first inning. Leadoff man Rafael Furcal had three hits and scored three times, and the Dodgers cruised to an easy victory that boosted baseball's best record to 54-31.

A night after seeing their 10-game winning streak snapped, the Pittsburgh Pirates began another. Oliver Perez outpitched All-Star Carl Pavano, and the visiting Pirates beat the Florida Marlins, 4-3, last night. The Pirates scored three unearned runs in the fifth to help Perez win his second consecutive start. Before that, he was winless since May 13. Pittsburgh threw out the potential tying run at the plate to end the seventh inning on a strong relay from leftfielder Rob Mackowiak to third baseman Bobby Hill.

Olmedo Saenz hit a two-run homer and host Los Angeles Dodgers scored the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded walk to beat Pittsburgh last night, 5-2, avoiding what would have been a crushing three-game sweep. The victory gave the Dodgers a half-game lead over the idle Phillies in the NL wild-card race and kept them a half-game behind the West Division-leading San Diego Padres, who beat Arizona. The Pirates' next three games are at San Diego, while the Dodgers host the Diamondbacks. Rookie Chad Billingsley (6-4)

THE NUMBERS don't add up. The Dodgers scored no runs against Phillies starters in Games 2 and 3 of the National League Championship Series. That's 15 innings, and nada . This, from a team that shared the National League batting average lead at .270, led the league with a .346 on-base percentage and ranked fourth in runs scored, playing in a much more pitcher-friendly park than the three teams that scored more. They entered last night hitting .234 in the series with a .277 on-base percentage.

LOS ANGELES - Not sure whether the Phillies can win seven more this way, but, in October, you just keep trying to get outs however you can get outs. The Phillies got enough of them at the right time and got two home runs at perfect times. It was enough, barely, to win Game 1 of the National League Championship Seies against the Dodgers, 8-6, last night. Charlie Manuel used just about everybody he had in his bullpen. There were a few shaky moments, but every time a Phillies reliever absolutely had to get an out at Dodger Stadium, he got an out. There was J.A. Happ, protecting a one-run lead in the sixth, getting Rafael Furcal to ground out on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded.

The 2008 National League Championship Series, between the Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers, was peppered with memorable hits, including Matt Stairs' moon shot in the eighth inning of Game 4 and Jimmy Rollins' leadoff home run in the clincher, Game 5. However, it was their pitching that ultimately swept the Phillies into the World Series. Cole Hamels, the series MVP, went 2-0 in two starts, allowing three earned runs over 14 innings. Ryan Madson pitched five scoreless innings, appearing in four games out of the bullpen.

THE DIFFERENCE between winning and losing at the upper echelon of sport is so small as to be almost immeasurable. The Dodgers might be in their second consecutive National League Championship Series because of a man almost nobody knows. Ron Rizzi is an East Coast scout who is responsible for closely observing several teams, including Baltimore and Washington. He also spends every winter in Venezuela. Two years ago, Rizzi found lefthander Victor Garate in Venezuela. On Aug. 30, the Dodgers traded Garate and Luis Garcia to the Nationals for Ronnie Belliard, the same Belliard who has become their starting second baseman, who batted .351 in 24 regular-season games for the Dodgers, who knocked in the tying run in the incredible Game 2 comeback against the Cardinals.

FIRST BASE Dodgers: James Loney. While he doesn't have the power formally associated with his position, with just 13 homers, the remarkably consistent Loney drove in 90 runs for the second straight season. Had more walks (70) than strikeouts (68). During the regular season, the lefthanded hitter had just about the same success against LHPs (.274-4-25 in 124 at-bats) as against RHPs (.283-9-65 in 452 ABs). Phillies: Ryan Howard. During the NLDS, the Rockies rarely used the exaggerated overshift against Howard that most teams routinely employ.

This is a rematch of the 2008 National League Championship Series, and the Dodgers no more want to rehash it than relive it. Manager Joe Torre understands that the highlights - or lowlights, from his point of view - will be replayed, but he takes no stand on whether his players need to avert their eyes. "I don't try to tell them what to do or not to do," Torre said. "The only thing - good or bad - is you can't do anything about them anymore. I don't want to live in the past.

ST. LOUIS - The Cardinals were done when Matt Holliday dropped that fly ball in Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers made it official Saturday night at Busch Stadium when St. Louis went out meekly against Vicente Padilla, losing, 5-1, in a game that was not competitive after the first inning. The Dodgers swept the NLDS for the second consecutive year and will open the NLCS Thursday and Friday at home against the Phillies or Rockies. How good was Padilla, the ex-Phillie who was released by Texas in August?

This should have been easy for the Dodgers: Jonathan Broxton on the mound, a three-run lead in the ninth inning against the dismal Pirates and an NL West title to celebrate as soon as they closed it out. But easy turned into excruciating as Los Angeles let a victory slip away when the majors' second-worst team pulled off a four-run rally aided by several defensive lapses. Rightfielder Andre Ethier misplayed Lastings Milledge's two-run single for an error that allowed the winning run to score, and last-place Pittsburgh beat the visiting Dodgers, 6-5, to prevent Los Angeles from clinching the NL West title yesterday.

Vicente Padilla gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a shot in the arm and the Colorado Rockies a punch to the gut. The righthander, jettisoned by Texas earlier this month after angering the Rangers by throwing at opposing hitters, returned to the National League yesterday and pitched the visting Dodgers to a 3-2 win over the Rockies. "I can do a lot for this team," said Padilla, who allowed two runs and six hits in five solid innings. Rafael Furcal, in the game for his defense, delivered a tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth inning and Matt Kemp hit his career-high 19th homer as the Dodgers put the brakes on the surging Rockies by taking two of three at Coors Field in Denver.

Tempers flared. Emotions ran wild. Benches cleared and managers were tossed. Everything one would expect from a Dodgers-Giants game, especially this year with both clubs in the playoff chase. Juan Uribe hit a game-ending two-run homer with one out in the 10th inning and San Francisco avoided a three-game sweep by visiting Los Angeles with a 4-2 victory yesterday. Brian Wilson (4-5) pitched 1 1/3 innings with four strikeouts for the win on a crazy day in which the benches cleared and both Giants manager Bruce Bochy and bench coach - and acting manager - Ron Wotus were ejected in separate arguments.