PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Manny Ramirez had two more hits and another RBI for the Dodgers.
Too bad the rest of Los Angeles’ lineup couldn’t help the dynamic slugger in Game 1 of the NLCS.
Ramirez had an RBI double in the first inning – the only run-scoring hit for Los Angeles – in the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night.
Sporting freshly trimmed, thick braids for the NLCS, Ramirez went 2-for-4 for the Dodgers. Not quite the torrid hitting the Dodgers were used to from him since he joined the team, but not bad in a game where Andre Ethier was the only other player in the lineup with two hits (2-for-4).
Even the Phillie Phanatic got in on the fun. The green furry mascot held a Dodgers helmet with long black braids attached high into the air for the faithful Philly fans to boo. Then the Phanatic smashed a hammer on the top of the helmet and shattered it, the blue remains scattered on the turf.
Unlike the helmet, Ramirez and the Dodgers have time to recover with Game 2 on Friday.
17 homers and 53 RBIs in 53 game since he became a Dodger on July 31, put them up 1-0 with a double off Phillies’ ace Cole Hamels. Ramirez’s deep drive to straightaway center hit high on the 19-foot wall and seemed for a moment like it might be gone.
Ramirez’s shot was about as far and high a ball can travel at the park without going over the fence.
The hit seemed symbolic of the Dodgers’ effort the rest of the way – they just missed all their opportunities.
Hamels decided to pitch to Ramirez early. With the frantic crowd chanting, Ethier silenced them with a one-out double. Hamels pitched to Ramirez with a base open and nearly paid for it. No doubt, Ramirez wouldn’t have been given the same courtesy in a tie game in the late innings.
Dodgers manager Joe Torre wasn’t surprised Ramirez was pitched to.
“Well, not really,” he said. “We’ve got some pretty good hitters behind him. And early in the game, I mean, you’re not going to start walking him, I don’t think anyway, in the first inning.”
Ramirez, though, can’t win the NLCS alone for the Dodgers.
The 2004 World Series MVP for the Boston Red Sox popped to short in the third, singled to center in the fifth and lined out to third in the eighth.
Ramirez went 5-for-10 with two homers, three RBIs and four walks against Chicago in the NL division series and has hit safely in 39 of his last 44 postseason games.
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