Sixth Inning Homer Fest Pushes Phillies Past Dodgers in Game 1 of NLCS

Ouch!

Patt Burrell and Chase Utley made it look easy tonight, each driving a home run in the sixth to lead the Phillies to a 3-2 victory. Derek Lowe looked pretty tired on the mound – something pretty uncharacteristic for the generally solid Dodgers pitcher.

Game 2 is Friday in Philadelphia, with Phillies right-hander Brett Myers facing Dodgers righty Chad Billingsley. Ol’ Chad makes me a little nervous, as he has definitely been streaky as of late, and with Manny carrying the offensive load for the team right now, we either need to see the bats come out in force early or hope Chad can keep it close for the first 4-5 innings (similar to what Lowe was able to accomplish before melting down in the 6th).

Phillies closer Brad Lidge is especially deadly – he is 44 for 44 in save chances this year, so the Dodgers shouldn’t expect any 9th inning heroics – they will defnitely be few and far between.

What you do think of the Game 1 performance? Was the big issue offense, defense, or both?