Russell Martin

The Los Angeles Dodgers took over the NL wild-card lead with an 11-4 victory over the host Colorado Rockies last night, fueled by the power of Nomar Garciaparra and Marlon Anderson and the timely hitting of Russell Martin. Garciaparra homered and drove in three runs. Martin drove in four runs with a bases-loaded triple and a 15-foot run-scoring single and Greg Maddux won his 332nd career game. Anderson singled, doubled and homered for the Dodgers, who moved a game ahead of the Phillies in the wild-card race.

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.

Commissioner Bud Selig said yesterday that he plans to step down in three years when his contract ends, content that the sport is in good health. "Other than Kenesaw Mountain Landis, I think I would be the longest-serving commissioner," said Selig, who became "interim commissioner" in 1992 and took the job permanently six years later. Selig said he will be 75 when his contract expires. Landis served from 1920, when he was elected baseball's first commissioner, until he died in 1944.

7:05, Citizens Bank Park. TV: Comcast SportsNet. Radio: WPHT (1210-AM); WUBA (1480-AM) Spanish.   Tonight's pitchers   Phillies RHP Kyle Kendrick (7-4, 4.37) vs. Dodgers RHP Vicente Padilla (5-3, 3.09)   Who's hot   Brad Lidge: The Phillies closer has opened August in strong fashion, converting all four of his save opportunities while allowing just two baserunners with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings over five total chances.   Who's not   Dodgers: They enter the series just 9-15 since the All-Star Break and recently lost catcher Russell Martin for the season with a hip injury.

Brad Penny scattered four singles over 6 1/3 innings, Juan Pierre had a career-high four extra-base hits and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the host Washington Nationals, 10-0, last night. Penny (7-1) struck out four and walked one, combining with two relievers on the Dodgers' third shutout of the season. Penny has yet to surrender a home run in 70 innings, making him the only pitcher in the majors who has pitched at least 40 innings without allowing a homer. "I just threw strikes with all three of my pitches," said Penny, who contributed two of the Dodgers' 16 hits.

The struggling Los Angeles Dodgers twice hit the ball to Ryan Zimmerman with the bases loaded and nobody out. That's a surefire way to kill a potential big inning. The Washington Nationals' third baseman put on a defensive show last night, turning four doubleplays and just a missing a fifth. His defense sparked a 2-1 victory that extended the visiting Dodgers' skid to five games, matching their season-high. "We probably should try to stay away from him tomorrow," deadpanned Dodgers catcher Russell Martin, whose grounder to Zimmerman turned into a 5-4-3 doubleplay that ended the eighth inning.

The latest lineup change coming from the locker-room laboratory of Phillies manager Charlie Manuel at the start of his team's series against the Los Angeles Dodgers found Pat Burrell hitting third, a rare spot for him lately. Burrell batted in the No. 3 hole yesterday for only the seventh time this season, and that was the charm. The veteran leftfielder matched his career high with five RBIs, three coming on a first-inning home run, to spark the Phillies to their second offensive explosion in as many games, a 9-2 victory over the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park.

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.

More fuel for replay debate A botched foul/fair call by third-base umpire Brian Gorman turned out to be decisive in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 5-2 victory over the host Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night before a sellout crowd of 42,810 at Miller Park. Because of Gorman's mistake, Arizona enjoyed a four-run eighth inning. With the score tied, 2-2, with two on and two outs in the eighth inning, Arizona pinch-hitter Tony Clark sliced a drive down the left-field line off reliever Todd Coffey that landed just to the left of the foul line.

Mike Lieberthal could be following Randy Wolf home to Southern California, the Los Angeles Times reported. Sources told the Times that Lieberthal wants to sign with the Dodgers and would be happy to serve as the backup to Russell Martin. He is believed to be seeking a 1-year deal for about $1 million with an option year. The Phillies are not expected to offer Lieberthal arbitration by tomorrow's deadline, making him a free agent. Lieberthal, who has spent his entire career with the Phillies organization, missed 55 games last season with a variety of injuries.

7:05, Citizens Bank Park. TV: Comcast SportsNet. Radio: WPHT (1210-AM); WUBA (1480-AM) Spanish.   Tonight's pitchers   Phillies RHP Kyle Kendrick (7-4, 4.37) vs. Dodgers RHP Vicente Padilla (5-3, 3.09)   Who's hot   Brad Lidge: The Phillies closer has opened August in strong fashion, converting all four of his save opportunities while allowing just two baserunners with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings over five total chances.   Who's not   Dodgers: They enter the series just 9-15 since the All-Star Break and recently lost catcher Russell Martin for the season with a hip injury.

Broxton takes blame for Dodgers' flameout Let's give Jonathan Broxton credit right up front - the burly Los Angeles closer is a standup guy. But the rest of the Dodgers may be a long time in recovering from Sunday night's spectacular meltdown on national television. "This is a tough game to recover from," said manager Joe Torre after the 8-6 loss to the Yankees in 10 innings. "But if you want to be a special club, you have to do that. " It might have helped had Torre not gone to Broxton for the fourth time in five days - and in a non-save situation.

The way Chad Billingsley and the bullpen pitched, the Los Angeles Dodgers got by with just two hits. Russell Martin hit an RBI single in the sixth inning and the Dodgers beat the first-place San Diego Padres 1-0 yesterday for a three-game sweep and their season-high seventh straight victory. Billingsley pitched into the eighth and combined with two relievers for a four-hitter. The Dodgers, playing their second game without hitting star Andre Ethier, won for the 12th time in 15 games.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt flew to the team's spring training facility in Arizona on Tuesday to watch Hiroki Kuroda pitch a simulated game. He threw against only minor leaguers, but Torre and Honeycutt were convinced that Kuroda, who had not pitched since Sept. 28 because of a bulging disk in his neck, was ready to make a postseason start. "Would we have liked him to have another [side session]?" Torre asked before Game 3. He didn't answer his own question.

The score was tied, the bases were full and so was the count, and the crowd in Dodger Stadium was on its feet. "Just take it all in, have fun with it," Dodgers rightfielder Andre Ethier said. "Sometimes, you try to block it out too much. You just have to take it in, and want to be the guy in that situation. " J.A. Happ's next pitch was low for ball four. So it was that Ethier, the Dodgers' walk-off homer artist, made his biggest contribution of the season simply by walking, driving in the go-ahead run in the Dodgers' wild 2-1 comeback over the Phillies in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

He might be the best player you've kind of heard of. A name that sounds familiar, that's been around awhile now, yet that many would still struggle to truly assess. Andre Ethier was the Dodgers' best offensive weapon this season. Got that? Their No. 1 threat, their most consistent bat, their top clutch performer. This would come as a revelation to those enamored with Manny Ramirez or convinced Matt Kemp is the team's next superstar. Ethier is the other guy - not that he shouldn't be used to it by now. He's played with a chip on his shoulder his entire career, certain non-believers lurked around every corner.

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.

At first, Cardinals leftfielder Matt Holliday stood frozen in his red shoes, knowing that the walk to the stunned St. Louis dugout would be the longest of his baseball career. What made it worse was that he had to circumvent the Dodgers' jubilant celebration on the infield as they swarmed one of their least-known teammates, Mark Loretta, who had just lined a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth to give them one of the most improbable wins in the club's colorful history last night.

LOS ANGELES - The Cardinals and Dodgers have combined for 35 National League pennants and 16 World Series championships. Managers Tony La Russa and Joe Torre are third and fifth all time in major league wins and have won six championships between them. The Cardinals have the best one-two starting combination in baseball in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. They also have the best player in baseball. All Albert Pujols did this year was lead the NL in home runs, finished third in batting average and third in RBI. The Dodgers won more games than any team in the National League, but had no .300 hitters and no pitchers with more than 12 wins.

Welcome to Washington The Washington Nationals' No. 1 overall draft pick was feted at an elaborate news conference yesterday along the third-base line at Nationals Park, attended by a few hundred fans who braved a stifling heat index that reached 100 degrees. Stephen Strasburg signed a record-breaking contract for a draft pick Monday night, a guaranteed $15.1 million over four years. This isn't exactly a win-win situation for the righthander. Remember, he one day will pitch for the dismal Nationals.