The Phillies had less than a day to savor their Game 1 win, but had to stew on the lost opportunity that was Game 2 for over 2 days. The extra time must have lit a strong fire, as both starter Cliff Lee and the Phillies offense came to the park looking to put a hurting on the Los Angeles Dodgers. The post-mortem looks like this:

11 – 0 Phils
8 shutout innings from Cliff Lee.
3 hits by the Dodgers.
Kuroda = toast.
Howard and Victorino – 3 RBI a piece.

This game had the same level of pressure as Game 4 of last year’s World Series. The Phils pounded the Rays in that game to the tune of 10-2, and it was the only game in the World Series that you could sit back a bit and just enjoy seeing your team in the Fall Classic without the ridiculous level of hand wringing that goes along with a tightly contested playoff game.

There were plenty of stars in tonight’s game, but none shown brighter than Lee, who came into the postseason as a bit of a question mark. He had been almost equal parts brilliant and dreadful in 12 starts for the Phils in the regular season. Would he step up in the postseason and return to form? Would he become this year’s Cole Hamels?

Umm….so far, so good.

Charlie was right to pull Lee after 8 innings. The Phils were up 11 runs, and despite the fact that this series is hardly sewn up, Charlie and Dubee need to look forward to a potential Game 6 and a possible World Series run. Lee could be lined up for 3 more starts. He’s thrown more innings this year than any other in his career – 256 including tonight. I was glad to hear in the post-game interviews that he actually wanted to pitch the 9th, but credit Charlie and Dubee for not being too much in the moment. This isn’t about winning Game 3 of the NLCS. No one remembers who wins Game 3. They remember the teams that win pennants and World Series trophies.

Ultimately, what we are witnessing is an unbelievably confident, battle-tested team. Sure, the Dodgers won Game 2, but the Phillies gave that game away as much as the Dodgers won it. Instead of dwelling on it, the Phillies made it a distant memory. If the Dodgers took momentum away from the Phillies after Game 2, they wrestled it back somewhere midway through the bottom of the 1st inning.

Tomorrow is a HUGE game. Win, and the Dodgers are broken. Lose, and it’s all square and we’re going back to LA with home field advantage back to the Dodgers regardless of what happens in Game 5. I want to see us rock Randy Wolf tomorrow. No love for the former Phillies. No love!