Shane Victorino

Some of the highs and lows of watching Dodgers-Phillies Game 3: Say Hey "Beat L.A., beat L.A., beat L.A." That's the first thing you heard as TBS began its coverage. Don't Philadelphia fans realize that's a Boston Celtics thing? And Philly fans hate Celtic fans. Say what? Chip Caray, on the play-by-play, said Shane Victorino "Helicopters his way" to the Phillie dugout after a strikeout. It was the second time Caray used "helicopter" as a verb. Weird. Replay this The TBS pitch sequence of Cliff Lee retiring Manny Ramirez in the top of the seventh.

Reporting from Baltimore -- Ruben Amaro Jr. was hired as general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies two weeks after the team celebrated the second World Series victory in franchise history. He replaced Pat Gillick, who was voted into the Hall of Fame two years later. Talk about a tough act to follow. "I thought to myself, 'OK, this is a pretty good situation. Just don't screw it up,'" Amaro says nearly three years later. He's done better than that. Backed by ownership that supported a $60-million payroll jump over the last two seasons, Amaro has turned the Phillies into the winningest team in baseball.

Mixing speeds and pitches and keeping hitters guessing, Pedro Martinez made a successful return to the majors Wednesday night. The Philadelphia Phillies gave their 37-year-old newcomer plenty of support, battering the Cubs, 12-5. Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins and Raul Ibanez homered as the World Series champions sent Chicago to its fourth consecutive loss. Martinez (1-0) gave up seven hits and three runs with a walk and five strikeouts during a five-inning stint that saw him throw 99 pitches.

Beaten out by Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino in a fan vote for the final spot on the National League All-Star team, Andre Ethier smiled and held up a stack of papers that was a few inches thick. "I think I'm going to have plenty of time over this All-Star break to go over my bankruptcy litigation," Ethier said. "You can see what we've been getting in the mail. It's fun to be a Dodger. " Ethier was one of several players to receive documents from the court in Delaware that is handling the Dodgers' bankruptcy case.

ATLANTA -- Kyle Kendrick and the Philadelphia Phillies emerged from their interleague blahs to resume their mastery of the Atlanta Braves, ruining the surprise return of Chipper Jones. Shane Victorino hit a home run and drove in four runs, and Kendrick and the Phillies beat the Braves, 8-3, Tuesday night to remain unbeaten at Turner Field this season. The Phillies improved to 6-1 against the Braves this season. They are 4-0 in Atlanta. Philadelphia had been been 2-9 in its last 11 games.

PHILADELPHIA -- With their pitching and defense struggling, the Philadelphia Phillies relied on Jimmy Rollins' daring dash to steal a game. Jesus Colome walked Jayson Werth to force in Rollins with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning, giving the Phillies an 8-7 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday. The defending East Division champions overcame a 5-0, first-inning deficit to avoid opening the season with a three-game sweep at home for the third year in a row. Rollins reached on an infield single to start the bottom of the 10th against Colome.

at Philadelphia 7-6, Milwaukee 3-1: Brett Myers (10-11) pitched a two-hitter in the second game, and the Phillies moved to within one game of first-place New York in the NL East. Shane Victorino was four for four and Pat Burrell hit a home run. In the first game, Ryan Howard and Victorino each hit a home run. Atlanta 7, at New York 4: Fill-in closer Luis Ayala (2-9) gave up a go-ahead home run to pinch-hitter Greg Norton and the Braves rallied for five runs in the ninth inning.

Shane Victorino put quite a cap on his bobblehead day. Victorino hit a game-ending homer in the ninth inning, and Ryan Howard's three-run shot helped the Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-8, on Sunday. With the score tied and one out, Victorino drove a 1-and-0 pitch from Kevin Correia (1-2) over the left-field fence for the first game-winning homer of his career. Before the game, children 14 and under in the crowd of 39,293 received a hula figurine of Victorino.

He has gone from August castoff to October conqueror. At this rate, Vicente Padilla could start the World Series opener should the Dodgers make it that far. All the veteran right-hander has done in two postseason outings is hold two potent lineups to one run in 14 1/3 innings, the latest command performance coming Friday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. Padilla limited the Philadelphia Phillies to one run in 7 1/3 innings in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, keeping the team that led the league in home runs and runs scored within striking distance until the Dodgers could rally for two late runs and a 2-1 victory.

Dodgers pitcher Randy Wolf took the mound against the Philadelphia Phillies with nine no-decisions in his last dozen starts. But by the time Wolf left the game Sunday, there was little doubt his record would change this time -- for the worse. The veteran left-hander was roughed up by home runs from Carlos Ruiz and Shane Victorino as the Phillies cruised past the Dodgers, 7-2, in front of 42,288 at Dodger Stadium. The loss gave the Dodgers (39-20) a split in the teams' four-game series and pared the Dodgers' lead in the National League West to eight games over the San Francisco Giants, who won Sunday.

A team with virtually no offense is headed to the World Series. Not a single player on the San Francisco Giants hit 30 home runs this year. Not a single player drove in 90 runs. But on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park, the Giants were crowned the champions of the National League, beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2, to win the best-of-seven championship series, 4-2. When the Giants last reached the World Series eight years ago, they did so with the likes of Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent in their lineup.

Roy Halladay pitched a perfect game in May. He pitched a no-hitter in his postseason debut. But Brad Lidge said that Halladay's performance in a 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night that extended the Philadelphia Phillies' season ranked among his greatest pitching achievements. By itself, Halladay's line in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series wasn't particularly remarkable. He pitched six innings, giving up two runs and six hits. But from the second inning on, Halladay pitched with a mild groin pull.

When the time came for Matt Cain to step into the national spotlight, he was ready. Before scaling to what he would call the peak of his major league career, Cain had endured six years of minimal run support from a light-hitting San Francisco Giants lineup. He was hardened by the countless no-decisions and one-run losses responsible for his sub-.500 career record. So when Manager Bruce Bochy ran out to the mound at a crucial juncture of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday and looked into Cain's eyes, he said he figured he wouldn't see any doubt.

Jimmy Rollins was in a rut. Calf and hamstring problems limited the former National League most valuable player to 88 games in the regular season. He was 1 for 15 in the postseason. But the San Francisco Giants got him started. Jonathan Sanchez helped him drive in his first run of the postseason by walking him with the bases loaded. Third baseman Mike Fontenot gifted him a hit by letting a popup plop to the field in front of the pitching mound. Then, Rollins drove a down-the-middle fastball by Ramon Ramirez to the top of the wall in right-center field for a bases-clearing double that blew open the game and sent the Philadelphia Phillies on their way to a 6-1 victory on Sunday night in Game 2 of the NLCS.

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw struck out five Philadelphia Phillies in the first two innings, struck out 11 overall and struck out the side three times in his six innings of work. But all the 22-year-old left-hander had to show for it Wednesday afternoon was his fourth career loss without a victory against the defending National League champions as the Dodgers' hopes for a playoff berth dimmed even further. That's because Kershaw also gave up early solo home runs to Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino which, combined with no-hit pitching by Roy Oswalt (10-13)

Five Philadelphia Phillies — second baseman Chase Utley , shortstop Jimmy Rollins , third baseman Placido Polanco , center fielder Shane Victorino and right fielder Jayson Werth — are currently in line to start the July 13 All-Star game at Angel Stadium. Utley, with 687,724 votes, is the league's leading vote-getter in the first announced balloting. The Phillies had three players represented in the NL starting lineup at last year's All-Star game. Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard and catcher Carlos Ruiz are currently in second place at their respective positions.

A team with virtually no offense is headed to the World Series. Not a single player on the San Francisco Giants hit 30 home runs this year. Not a single player drove in 90 runs. But on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park, the Giants were crowned the champions of the National League, beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2, to win the best-of-seven championship series, 4-2. When the Giants last reached the World Series eight years ago, they did so with the likes of Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent in their lineup.

Five Philadelphia Phillies — second baseman Chase Utley , shortstop Jimmy Rollins , third baseman Placido Polanco , center fielder Shane Victorino and right fielder Jayson Werth — are currently in line to start the July 13 All-Star game at Angel Stadium. Utley, with 687,724 votes, is the league's leading vote-getter in the first announced balloting. The Phillies had three players represented in the NL starting lineup at last year's All-Star game. Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard and catcher Carlos Ruiz are currently in second place at their respective positions.

The Phillies are taking the World Series back to New York, but they may be missing their starting center fielder when they get there. Shane Victorino was hit on the hand while trying to bunt an A.J. Burnett fastball in the first inning Monday and eventually had to leave the game because of severe swelling. "He had X-rays, and it's not broken," said Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel . "But as the game went on, his finger kept swelling. He couldn't grip the ball and couldn't grip the bat."

Ryan Howard took measures to protect his eyes, donning a pair of goggles in the Philadelphia clubhouse. He never imagined he would have to worry about his underwear. But there was Pedro Martinez , pouring beer on a pair of the slugger's shorts that dangled from a coat hanger Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park. "I don't think I've ever played on a team that's been so fun," Howard said after the Phillies eliminated the Dodgers from the National League Championship Series with a 10-4 victory in Game 5. "It's one of the funnest teams I've played on."