The Phillies were not supposed to lose Game 2. They were not supposed to win Game 4. But October baseball has a funny way of flipping scripts and forcing sportswriters to hit the delete button on stories that were 1 out away from being written.

Jimmy Rollins hit a game-winning double to drive in Eric Bruntlett and Carlos Ruiz in a walk-off win that won’t soon be forgotten in Philly no matter how the rest of this postseason goes.

There were 2 places Jimmy could have hit the ball to win the game with one stroke – into the stands, or in the gap between center and right field. Jimmy went for the latter with perhaps the sexiest hit baseball has to offer, the gapper. There was no play at the plate as Ruiz was motoring with 2 outs and slid into home to the delight of his teammates, 45,000+ delirious onlookers and hundreds of millions of stunned fans in their living rooms.

Randy Wolf settled down after giving up a 1st inning two run home run to Ryan Howard. The Dodgers nickel and dimed their way to a 4-2 lead that held up until the Phils chipped away with 1 in the 6th and then Jimmy’s game winner.

This game is a microcosm of why there is no logical reason to count the Phillies out of any game. They are simply tougher than the other team.

Game 5 is Wednesday night. Beat LA. No plane rides back to LAX. A fresh Cliff Lee for Game 1 of the World Series. Everything set up just the way Charlie and Dubee want it.

Some other random thoughts:

1. I strongly suggest anyone that is still trying to listen to the national broadcast to give it up and put in the radio broadcast with the TV turned down. It is synced up almost perfectly, and listening to the hometown guys is light years better than the alternative.

2. Comcast Sportsnet showed video of Michael Barkann, Ricky Bottalico and Darren Daulton watching the game winning hit. They didn’t know they were being recorded, and their reaction was great. I love seeing former players into it. Very cool. Hopefully that video will be posted somewhere.

3. The Dodgers are so easy to hate. As a team, they are a great foil for the Phillies. Seeing utter dejection on the faces of the Dodgers after the Phillies literally stole the game away from them is priceless.

4. Joe Blanton pitched ok. He struggled late in the outing and looked particularly vulnerable in the 4th inning when the Dodgers touched him for 2 runs, and again in the 5th when Matt Kemp sent a Blanton offering into the bushes behind the centerfield fence.

5. A return to the World Series is the only thing that separates this Phillies team from being the unequivocal greatest collection of Phillies ever. Sure, the late 70s/early 80s nucleus was the first team to break through and win it all, but back to back World Series berths takes this group over the top. In 20 years, we’ll be regaling the next generation about this team’s exploits.

6. Not to be a killjoy, but the Phillies are winning right now in spite of Pedro Feliz, who has been utterly dreadful at the plate and committed a throwing error tonight also. If Feliz wasn’t a right-handed hitter, we’d probably have seen Dobbs by now.