Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard went 1-3 with two walks and two
RBIs in a Game 1 victory to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the NLCS.
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Game Recap: Silence. A nervous silence fell over the Dodger stadium crowd as a lazy pop-fly nestled into Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollin's glove and ended Game 1 of the NLCS. With 14 of the last 17 winners of Game 1 of the NLCS advancing to the World Series the fans had reason to be worried.  The 8-6 loss displayed the best and worst of the Dodgers.

Starting picture Clayton Kershaw was youngest pitcher ever to start a Game 1 in an NLCS. But a disastrous fifth inning spelled his doom for the Boys in Blue as Kershaw gave up five runs.

Manny Ramirez lived up to his, "I only play big when I want to," M.O. and hit a 2-run home run in the bottom half of the fifth inning to pull the Dodgers within one at 5-4, but they never got closer.

The Dodgers' bullpen couldn't live up to its regular season standards as reliever George Sherrill gave up three runs in the eighth inning giving the Phillies an 8-4 lead.  

Brad Lidge closed out the ninth inning for the Phillies to secure an 8-6 victory.

The loss drops Los Angeles to 1-5 in playoff competition against Philadelphia dating back to last season.

Game Changer:  Carlos Ruiz's three-run homer in the top of the fifth. While it didn't provide the game winning run, Ruiz's blast put the Dodgers on their heels and swung momentum to the Phillies. 

Key Moment: Bottom of the eighth, two out, man on first and third, Manny Ramirez steps to the plate to face a struggling Ryan Madson. Ramirez then proceeds to swing at three pitches out of the strike-zone, barely fouling one off. On the fifth pitch of the at-bad he swung at another pitch out of the strike-zone and hit a weak ground ball to third base, ending the threat.

Quote of the game:

"The Dodgers are a great team. They come from behind a lot so you take
everyone seriously. Honestly, for some reason I've really
been locked in this postseason. I felt really good mechanically. I feel
like myself. I feel pretty comfortable right now." --Lidge on closing the Dodgers out in Game 1.

"When our bullpen is healthy and going on all cylinders, we're the best one," said Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge after shutting down the Dodgers to win the game.

--Michael Green contributed to this report