11:55 p.m. ET
A couple of huge tidbits from ESPN reseach whiz Mark Simon:
• Matt Stairs -- first pinch-hit HR by a Phillies player in a postseason game since the immortal George Vukovich hit a 1981 NLDS walk-off homer in the 10th inning of Game 4, against the Expos.
And …
•The last time the Dodgers gave up a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning or later of an LCS game: Jack Clark's fabled game-winner off Tom Niedenfuer, in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the 1985 NLCS.
--Jayson Stark
Howard's defense still an issue (11:03 p.m. ET)
Ryan Howard's defense at first base has been an issue in Philadelphia all season. And it was a huge factor in Game 4, when Howard fielded a Rafael Furcal bunt and launched his throw into right field.
Howard's 19 errors this season tied him for the most in a season by any first baseman in this millennium. The only other first baseman with 19 E's in any season in the '00s is Lee Stevens, who committed 19 for the 2001 Expos.
--Jayson Stark
Manuel decides to go with So (10:38 p.m. ET)
Interesting decision by Charlie Manuel to yank one pinch hitter (Geoff Jenkins) for the seldom-seen So Taguchi, with the go-ahead run on third in the sixth.
So why is that? Because Taguchi's last RBI as a pinch hitter was July 22 -- a two-run double against the Mets. And how many other pinch RBIs did Taguchi have this year? How about ZERO.
Pretty astounding, considering the guy was signed as a free agent mostly to pinch hit.
--Jayson Stark
Manny being Manny against Blanton (10:13 p.m. ET)
From the first pitch he threw Monday, it was obvious Joe Blanton would rather have an appendectomy than throw a strike to Manny Ramirez. But when the Dodgers got their first two hitters on base in the fifth, there was no choice.
One hanging slider later, Manny had roped an RBI single to left. And that meant Manny had added to two of the most staggering stats of the night:
• It made him 15-for-26 (.577) off Blanton, plus five walks -- for a ridiculous .645 on-base percentage.
• It also raised Manny's average with runners in scoring position this postseason to -- ready for this? -- .875. That's 7-for-8 if you're ciphering RISP numbers at home. The rest of his team is 13-for-57 (.228) in those situations through the fifth inning of Game 4.
--Jayson Stark
Lowe's day done (10:03 p.m. ET)
Joe Torre yanked Derek Lowe after five innings and only 74 pitches. Lowe had settled in after a shaky first inning, but Torre brought in young Clayton Kershaw into a tight situation with the Dodgers holding a 3-2 lead.
Kershaw promptly walked Ryan Howard and fell behind 3-0 on Pat Burrell before working the count full. Then Burrell singled through the left side. Could the move haunt the Dodgers?
--Nick Pietruszkiewicz, ESPN.com baseball editor
Quick peek back at Game 3 (9:03 p.m. ET)
Here's a great tidbit from Game 3, from our friends at whowins.com (I know this is old, but haven't had a chance to get to it until now.): The Dodgers' five-run first inning was the biggest first inning in history by a team that came home after losing the first two games of any best-of-seven postseason series. The old record was three, by the 1981 Dodgers (World Series) and 2004 Astros (NLCS).
--Jayson Stark
Lowe looks uneasy (9:03 p.m. ET)
Derek Lowe has given up four hits and two runs in the first two innings, and he hasn't looked at all comfortable. He and Dodgers catcher Russell Martin have had three mound meetings already, and Lowe walked off and around the mound at another point, asking for a new ball from plate umpire Ted Barrett.
It's a 2-1 game, but if Lowe can't manage to get comfortable, that score could change in a hurry.
--Eric Neel
Staying away from Manny (8:56 p.m. ET)
So why would Charlie Manuel have been intentionally walking Manny Ramirez with one out in the first inning to put the tying run on base after his team had just taken a 2-0 lead? Easy. Check the numbers.
Manny came in hitting .560 lifetime (14-for-25) against Joe Blanton. That's Ramirez's highest average off any pitcher he has faced at least 25 times. Amazingly, the night before, he faced the guy he'd hit more homers against than any other pitcher -- Jamie Moyer (10 career home runs).
What were the odds of facing those two in back-to-back games -- let alone in October?
--Jayson Stark
Dodgers fans still don't like Victorino (8:35 p.m. ET)
The players, managers and coaches may say the right things, that the problems between the Dodgers and Phillies are behind them after the Game 3 shouting match that followed a high, inside pitch from the Dodgers' Hiroki Kuroda at the Phillies' Shane Victorino.
Fans aren't over it. A few seated in the upper deck, which is where the auxiliary press box is located at Dodger Stadium, shouted "Hit him in the head" and "Kill him" when Victorino came up to bat in the first.
He grounded into an inning-ending double play, so the fans will have to settle for that.
--Nick Pietruszkiewicz, ESPN.com baseball editor
NLCS Game 4 seat assignments (8:17 p.m. ET)
The public-address announcer just asked the fans to make some noise because the national broadcast of tonight's Game 4 was about to begin. Going to be hard to convey an electric atmosphere because, just as it was before Game 3, there are plenty of empty seats. Sure, they'll all fill in shortly, but for now, only a few minutes before first pitch, the place is probably 60 percent full.
--Nick Pietruszkiewicz, ESPN.com baseball editor
Rays adding on (7:55 p.m. ET)
It's a New England night for the Rays as Rocco Baldelli (from Rhode Island) and Carlos Pena (from Massachusetts) have left the yard.
--Jeff Bradley
Wakefield to the rescue? (7:50 p.m. ET)
So, are the Red Sox really going to go with Tim Wakefield, who had a 6.65 ERA in September and gave up six earned runs in 2 1/3 innings the most recent time he faced the Rays, in Game 4 on Tuesday? If they lose, perhaps being down 3-1 is where the Red Sox most feel comfortable in ALCS play. They were there a year ago against Cleveland, and they were there in '04 against New York (after being down 3-0, of course).
--Jeff Bradley
Baldelli considered attending Princeton (7:38 p.m. ET)
No lie -- Rocco Baldelli, who just homered, also considered attending Princeton. … He ultimately was headed to Wake Forest before deciding to sign with the Rays, who drafted him in the first round of the 2000 draft.
--Jeff Bradley
A little Ivy League trivia (7:36 p.m. ET)
Fernando Perez, who pinch ran for Willy Aybar, attended Columbia University. I can name the following Ivy Leaguers in the majors: Chris Young, Will Venable and Ross Ohlendorf from Princeton and Mark DeRosa from Penn. Any others?
--Jeff Bradley
Little things hurt Red Sox (7:26 p.m. ET)
Seems like a little thing in a 5-1 game, but if Alex Cora had moved up to second on Rocco Baldelli's errant throw the Red Sox wouldn't have kept that double play in order for the Rays. Instead, Dustin Pedroia hit into it to end the bottom of the seventh.
--Jeff Bradley
Kuroda ready to go again (7:11 p.m. ET)
Hiroki Kuroda on perhaps facing the Phillies again:
"I'm not going to change my pitching style."
On being fined:
"I guess I have to pay."
Four players and three coaches were fined for their actions in the Game 3 inside-pitches, high-drama shouting match.
--Jorge Arangure Jr.
Ellsbury remains hitless in series (6:42 p.m. ET)
Add Jacoby Ellsbury to the list of hitless Sox. With his fly out in the fifth inning, he's now 0-for-14 in the series.
--Jeff Bradley
Francona giving up on Varitek? (6:38 p.m. ET)
What's more about the Jason Varitek situation is that veteran Boston Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy
wrote this paragraph in his column today:
Do not underestimate the residue of hard feelings in the wake of Francona hitting for Jason Varitek a second time in these playoffs. Tito lifted Varitek for J.D. Drew against Dan Wheeler in the ninth inning of Game 2. It's refreshingly bold given Tito's reputation as a player's manager and it makes good sense, but be assured the captain sees this as an act of abject betrayal.
--Jeff Bradley
Lester not fooling Rays (6:35 p.m. ET)
After throwing just four pitches in the first inning, Jon Lester has thrown 87 through five.
--Jeff Bradley
No bite in Varitek's bat (6:30 p.m. ET)
If this is the end of Jason Varitek as a Red Sox player (he is in the final year of his contract), the Boston captain is not going out in a style befitting his classy career. Tek is now 0-for-9 in the ALCS and just 2-for-23 in the postseason … this after hitting just .201 from the left side of the plate this season. He's also struggling behind the plate and has committed two passed balls (and got crossed up on a pitch thrown by Justin Masterson during the ALDS) in the playoffs after having just four passed balls all season. And Carlos Pena just stole second.
--Jeff Bradley
Kemp has no choice but to watch (6:29 p.m. ET)
The Dodgers on Monday made their second lineup change in as many days.
On Sunday, the Dodgers started Nomar Garciaparra in place of James Loney. On Monday, Juan Pierre gets the nod ahead of Matt Kemp.
"I'm not mad," Kemp said. "I want to play, but I can't do anything about it. I can't explain it. I'm not playing the way I normally play. "
Kemp said he doesn't think playoff nerves have caused his slump.
"I actually got over that after the Cubs series," Kemp said. "It's like I have three good at-bats and then two bad at-bats."
Kemp said he'd be ready if called on to pinch hit.
"I'm going to come in and get a pinch-hit," he said.
--Jorge Arangure Jr.
Big Papi punchless (5:52 p.m. ET)
Red Sox Nation was preoccupied with Josh Beckett before tonight's game, but might soon be directing its concern to David Ortiz, who is hitless in eight at-bats this series and just 4 for 25 in the postseason.
--Jeff Bradley
Lester threw two bad pitches (5:40 p.m. ET)
Jon Lester had gone 16 innings in the postseason without allowing an earned run before giving up those two monster home runs to B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria in the third. According to the TBS pitch-tracking gizmo, the two fastballs were in almost exactly the same location: belt-high over the heart of the plate. Right where power hitters can get their arms extended.
--Jerry Crasnick
NLCS: The numbers game, Game 4 edition (5:33 p.m. ET)
Derek Lowe was scheduled to do something Monday that doesn't always work:
Start a postseason game on three days' rest.
In honor of that start, let's go to the history books.
From the beginning of the 1999 postseason, heading into Josh Beckett's memorable Game 6 World Series shutout in the 2003 World Series, the record of pitchers who started October games on short rest could be summed up in one word:
Disastrous.
There were 37 starts on short rest in that time. The pitchers who made those starts went 6-20 with a 5.93 ERA, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Their teams went 10-27 in those games.
But starting with Beckett, it hasn't been nearly that ugly.
Since the Beckett Game, 16 pitchers have started in the postseason on short rest. Those pitchers went 5-5. But their teams went just 5-11. And their ERA was a messy 4.99.
But those numbers are skewed by brutal short-rest starts by Kevin Brown in 2004, and Ted Lilly and Chien-Ming Wang last year. Toss out their clunkers, and the ERA by all the other pitchers working on short rest was a respectable 3.26.
The five pitchers who won on short rest: Beckett, Roy Oswalt (2004), Paul Byrd (2005), James Shields (2008 ALDS) and -- whaddayaknow -- Derek Lowe (2004).
And that brings us to Lowe's record on short rest:
Three regular-season starts: 2-1, 5.29
One postseason start (on TWO days' rest): 1-0, 1.50
Overall totals: 3-1, 4.31.
Incidentally, Lowe also came back to start three days after throwing 42 pitches in relief in Game 1 of the 2003 ALDS. He won that game, allowing one unearned run in seven innings to beat the A's.
--Jayson Stark
Upton takes one out of the yard (5:30 p.m. ET)
The Red Sox were willing to give up a run if B.J. Upton could do what Jason Varitek couldn't do … and Upton did more, hitting a three-run jack. After not allowing an earned run in 22 2/3 postseason innings, Jon Lester has given up three in one-plus innings today.
--Jeff Bradley
Torre opts to bench Kemp (5:28 p.m. ET)
Joe Torre just announced that the Dodgers will start Juan Pierre in center field in Game 4 instead of Matt Kemp.
Kemp, who is hitting only .208 in the postseason,is "fighting himself" at the plate right now, Torre said.
--Jayson Stark
Red Sox waste two scoring chances (5:20 p.m. ET)
With the Rays infield back, conceding the run if Jason Varitek could hit a ground ball, Varitek went down looking. Tack that on to David Ortiz's going down looking in the first with a runner on second and one out, and you get the feeling the Red Sox will have some regrets in two or three hours.
--Jeff Bradley
Lester has quick first inning (4:42 p.m. ET)
Jon Lester almost set a record in the first inning. Four pitches. Four strikes. Three outs.
--Jeff Bradley
Baldelli to start in right field for Rays (3:40 p.m. ET)
Rocco Baldelli will make his first appearance in the ALCS when he gets the start in right field for the Rays in today's Game 3. Baldelli will hit eighth in the Tampa Bay batting order. He had one hit in eight at-bats in the Division Series against the White Sox.
Willy Aybar will be the Rays' designated hitter today, and he will hit sixth in the batting order.
--Matt Szefc, ESPN.com baseball editor
Best pitcher in playoffs? It's Lester (2:55 p.m. ET)
Cora to start at shortstop for Red Sox (2:25 p.m. ET)
Alex Cora, who got the nod in Game 2 of the Division Series against Ervin Santana (and went 1-for-3), is back in Boston's starting lineup today at shortstop against Matt Garza.
Boston manager Terry Francona likes the idea of having Jed Lowrie on the bench as a potential weapon against Tampa Bay's lefty relievers -- J.P. Howell, David Price and Trever Miller.
"Maybe we can make them at least think about a change, or if they decide to make a change, maybe it can help us a little bit,'' Francona said.
Lowrie, a switch-hitter, hit .338 with a .934 OPS from the right side this season. He was considerably weaker from the left side, batting .222 with a .653 OPS.
J.D. Drew is also in the Boston lineup in right field. Jacoby Ellsbury slides back over to center field, and Coco Crisp is back on the bench.
--Jerry Crasnick
Does Wheeler need extra rest? (2:15 p.m. ET)
Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said before Game 3 that he wasn't sure about closer Dan Wheeler's availability. Wheeler threw 48 pitches and 3 1/3 innings in Game 2 on Saturday night, and Maddon said that he usually would like to give a pitcher two days of rest following such an outing but assumed that Wheeler would probably want to pitch anyway. Wheeler hadn't thrown that many pitches in a game since 2006, and Maddon said the biggest concern is always how a pitcher responds to an unusual performance.
Maddon's extended use of his closer in a crucial situation was in stark contrast to Boston manager Terry Francona, who removed Jonathan Papelbon after only 18 pitches and brought in Mike Timlin for the 11th inning, then watched him lose the game. Papelbon had thrown the previous game, but Wheeler was well-rested; Maddon said that played a major factor in his decision to stay with Wheeler so long.
--Jim Caple
