This is no longer the cakewalk it was shaping up to be when we left Philly. Casey Blake said after Game 2 that the Dodgers needed to come out fighting. Well, they almost did so literally. That pitch from Kuroda that barely missed the top of Shane Victorino's helmet in the third inning did a lot of things -- among them, it elicited an official warning from the umpires -- but it mostly sent a message that the Dodgers aren't going to roll over. I feel bad for Chad Billingsley. He is a great kid and a great pitcher who has been caught in the middle of something that frankly isn't his fault, and for some reason, Fox kept showing tight shots of him in the Dodgers' dugout tonight during a game he wasn't even involved in other than as a supportive teammate. Yes, he should have retaliated in Game 2 for what happened to Martin and Manny. But no, he didn't commit some sort of affront to all that is sacred about this grand, old game. This stuff appears to be over now, and this series appears to be shaping up as one for the ages.

When it became clear he wasn't going to be activated at any point in this postseason, he decided to go ahead with a procedure he knew he was going to eventually need anyway. It will happen on Wednesday, the morning of Game 5. He will have a partial tear of his flexor tendon repaired and a bone spur shaved of the back of the elbow. He is expected to be ready for spring training. He is four-plus arbitration-eligible who avoided a hearing last winter by agreeing at $1.115 million. He had a 6.05 ERA in 38 2/3 innings spanning 41 appearances during the regular season.

Nomar is in at first base, as expected. The other part of the equation is that the bottom of the order was shaken up, with Blake moving to sixth, Kemp dropping to seventh and DeWitt now hitting eighth. Nomar's career postseason stats are fairly impressive. He is batting .318 (34 for 107) with a .380 on-base percentage, a .598 slugging percentage, seven HRs and 23 RBI.

Phillies:

Rollins. SS
Victorino. CF
Utley. 2B
Howard. 1B
Burrell. LF
Werth. RF
Feliz. 3B
Ruiz. C
Moyer. LHP

Dodgers:

Furcal. SS
Ethier. RF
Ramirez. LF
Martin. C
Garciaparra. 1B
Blake. 3B
Kemp. CF
DeWitt. 2B
Kuroda. RHP

He'll get the ball on Monday night on three days' rest. If there is a Game 7 back in Philly, he would be going on normal rest for that one. Joe Torre said earlier that he personally hasn't had much success as a manager going with starting pitchers on three days' rest, but as a sinkerballer who doesn't rely heavily on velocity, Lowe would seem to be the one type of pitcher who shouldn't be affected much by it. A side benefit to this, Torre said, is that Chad Billingsley, who is probably itching to get back on the mound after that disaster in Game 2, will get to do so sooner. He'll go in Game 5 on Wednesday night on regular rest after the off-day Tuesday. ... In other news, Nomar will start tomorrow night against Jamie Moyer, whom he hits extremely well, and it SOUNDS like it probably will be at first base, because that position will be easier on Nomar's body and because it will allow Torre to rest James Loney against the lefty. Also, Takashi Saito will NOT go to the Arizona Instructional League to pitch in a game. He will stay here throughout this series and pitch in a simulated game, at a date yet to be determined, so Rick Honeycytt can watch him closely.

Much like last night, there was a ball that would have gone out of just about any other part of the ballpark, this one a drive by Casey Blake in the seventh that would have gone for a three-run, game-tying homer, but it came down at that distant part of the wall in left-center, and Shane Victorino made a leaping catch. Chad Billingsley was awful in the second after striking out the first two batters and then giving up a bouncing single up the middle to Greg Dobbs. Phils went on to score four in that inning and four in the next one, too, chasing Billingsley after 2 1/3 innings. Yes, the Dodgers are going home for the next three. Yes, Joe Torre's Yankees blew a 3-0 lead in the 2004 American League Championship Series. But that's all secondary to the fact this team is down 2-0 and absolutely MUST win Game 3 in the twilight on Saturday at Dodger Stadium. It could be worse. But it couldn't be much worse.

Still no starter for Game 4. Torre says Lowe is still a possibility, but my money's on Kershaw. ... Charlie Manuel will manage today, but after that, it remains up in the air. June Manuel was 87 and still lived, according to Phillies PR chief Greg Casterioto, in the same house where Charlie and his nine siblings grew up. She had gone into the hospital earlier this week and passed this morning. ... The shadows are already almost all the way across the infield, so they shouldn't be much of a factor come game time, which is still about an hour away. It is an absolutely gorgeous autumn day here, and the game time temp is going to be well into the 70s.

Earlier this week, you might have read a story I wrote for the paper about Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino and how the Dodgers let him get away TWICE via the Rule 5 draft and how they turned down a chance to get him back the second time when the Phillies offered him back midway through the 2005 season. Well, there was one factual error in the story, and out of that factual error, there was a glaring misconception. As it turns out, the Dodgers had a very sound reason for not taking him back. First, the error: I wrote that Victorino had never been on the Dodgers' 40-man roster, which turned out to be not true. The fact is, he HAD been on the 40-man once previously and had been outrighted OFF the 40-man. In light of that, the Dodgers' reasoning for not taking him back: teams who make Rule 5 draft selections pay $50,000 for them, and if they don't keep that player on their 25-man roster for all of the following season, they must offer him back to his original team for $25,000. But when the Phillies offered Victorino back to the Dodgers, the Dodgers were NOT going to put him on their 25-man OR their 40-man roster. Therefore, they would have to outright him to the minors. Well, any player who is outrighted more than once has the right to decline outright assignments, beginning with his second one, and become a free agent. As I understand it, the Dodgers were fairly certain at the time -- 99.99 percent, as it was told to me -- that Victorino was going to decline the assignment and opt for free agency. In that case, the Dodgers would have been throwing away $25,000. Granted, that seems like chump change in the grand scheme of a major-league payroll. But throwing away 25 grand is still throwing away 25 grand. Hope that clears things up.

Also, we just received word that Charlie Manuel's mother passed away this morning, so thoughts and prayers go out to him. He is one of the truly good guys in this game. I'm told he IS expected to manage today's game for the Phillies.

Here are today's lineups:

Dodgers:

Furcal. SS
Martin. C
Ramirez. LF
Ethier. RF
Loney. 1B
Kemp. CF
DeWitt. 2B
Blake. 3B
Billingsley. RHP

Phillies:

Rollins. SS
Victorino. CF
Utley. 2B
Howard. 1B
Burrell. LF
Werth. RF
Dobbs. 3B
Ruiz. C
Myers. RHP

This is the big-time, and in a big-time hitter's ballpark. That ultimately was what did in the Dodgers tonight. The ball Manny Ramirez hit in the first inning -- the one that DIDN'T go out because it hit the very top of the wall not only at its deepest point, but also its highest point, and also hit about a foot to the left of the yellow stripe -- went way farther than EITHER of the home runs hit by Chase Utley and Pat Burrell in that decisive sixth inning. But it's not even close to panic time yet. The Dodgers blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning against the New York Mets in Game 1 of the 1988 NLCS -- the last one of these that they actually were in -- and came back to win that series in seven, then blew out Oakland in five in the World Series. Long way to go, folks. ... The good thing about tonight was that Hong-Chih Kuo had a good inning, retiring the Phillies in order in the eighth. Appears to be back to normal. ... Tomorrow's game at 4:35 Philly time, which means weird shadows and maybe some weird developments. See ya then.

Torre said Saito took the news that he wasn't on the LCS roster like a true professional. He'll stay with the team for now and throw bullpens -- the equivalent of the rehab assignment he never had is the way Torre put it -- but might go to Peoria to make one appearance in the Instructional League if this series goes long and it looks like he might have a shot at a potential World Series roster. ... By the way, Hong-Chih Kuo will be limited to warming up one time per game, pitching one inning per appearance and no back-to-back days.

Dodgers:

Furcal. SS
Ethier. RF
Ramirez. LF
Martin. C
Loney. 1B
Kemp. CF
Blake. 3B
DeWitt. 2B
Lowe. RHP

Phillies:

Rollins. SS
Victorino. CF
Utley. 2B
Howard. 1B
Burrell. LF
Werth. RF
Feliz. 3B
Ruiz. C
Hamels. LHP

At least for Game 1. Spent the day doing touristy stuff in Philly with Daily News columnist Steve Dilbeck and Al Balderas of the OC Register. We took the Independence Hall tour, which was interesting, but what I found more interesting was a tour of Congress Hall, which is adjacent to Independence Hall. This was where the first House and Senate chambers were, and we visited both as part of the tour. The House chamber was allegedly where George Washington announced that he wouldn't seek a third term as President, and where John Adams was elected to succeed him (apparently, these things were done a little differently in 1796). Then we ate lunch at City Tavern, this old building where the wait staff dresses in Colonial period attire. It was all so fascinating that I kept forgetting we actually had a baseball game -- and a pretty big one at that -- to cover tonight. But we're all here now, and Citizens Bank Park is all dressed up in the requisite red-white-and-blue bunting. Not a perfect day, just a tinge of smog in the air, and it's expected to be a little cool tonight. But these are the playoffs. It's supposed to be crisp. ... By the way, as predicted here yesterday, Takashi Saito was left off the roster for this series to clear a spot for Hong-Chih Kuo. Broxton is now the unquestioned closer for this club. Makes you wonder whether Saito will even be around next year, giving that he will be 39 and is arbitration-eligible for the first time.