Dodgers vs. Phillies NLCS Game 4 live updates

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FINAL SCORE: Phillies 5, Dodgers 4

One night after losing, 11-0, the Dodgers blow a chance for a series-tying victory with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Phillies lead the series, 3-1. Silver lining for the Dodgers (and the only one): They can’t lose on Tuesday. Tuesday is an off-day. Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday.

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH (Phillies 5, Dodgers 4)

Ibanez leads off by grounding to second. Matt Stairs pinch-hits for Feliz. Dodger fans who know their history know what this means. Stairs hit a game-breaking home run against Broxton in Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS. Uh oh. Pitching very carefully, Broxton walks Stairs on four pitches. Eric Bruntlett pinch-runs for Stairs. Ruiz is hit by a pitch. Greg Dobbs, batting for Lidge, pops to third. One out to go. Rollins drives the ball into the gap in right-center. The ball rolls all the way to the wall. Bruntlett scores the tying run. Ethier gathers the ball and throws back to the infield, but Ruiz scores the winning run without a throw to the plate.

TOP OF THE NINTH INNING (Dodgers 4, Phillies 3)

Scott Eyre now pitching for the Phillies. Hudson, batting in the No. 9 slot, flies to right. Furcal, struggling at the plate this series, singles to center on a full-count pitch. Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel brings in Brad Lidge to replace Eyre. It’s nervous time at Citizens Bank Park. As Kemp strikes out on a full-count pitch, Furcal steals second. With Ethier at bat, Furcal takes third on a wild pitch. Ethier strikes out. Now comes nervous time back in Southern California.

BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH INNING (Dodgers 4, Phillies 3)

George Sherrill now pitching for the Dodgers. Rollins grounds to third. Nice play by Blake, who goes to his knees to field the ball, then straightens up to make the throw in time. Sherrill hits Victorino with a pitch off the right foot. Victorino moves to second on a wild pitch. Utley walks. Decision time for Torre. Does he bring in Jonathan Broxton now, or keep in Sherrill, a lefthander, to pitch to the lefthanded Howard? Side note: Howard is 0-for-10 against Broxton. Torre jogs to the mound, but it’s only to conference. Sherrill stays in the game to face Howard. Sherrill strikes out Howard on a high fastball. Torre returns to the mound; this time, Broxton’s coming in. Orlando Hudson is brought in to play second for the Dodgers. Werth steps to the plate. On a 1-1 pitch that Werth fouls back, graphic shows Broxton is throwing 101 mph. Werth flies to deep right.

TOP OF THE EIGHTH INNING (Dodgers 4, Phillies 3)

Ryan Madson now pitching for the Phillies. He strikes out Ramirez on three pitches. Loney singles up the middle on a ball Utley can’t quite handle. Belliard forces Loney at second. With Martin at bat, Belliard steals second. Replays show the Dodgers caught a break there; it appears Utley made the tag just before Belliard’s foot touched the base. Martin walks. Blake strikes out swinging.

BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH INNING (Dodgers 4, Phillies 3)

Feliz strikes out. Ruiz grounds to short. Ben Francisco, batting for Park, flies to left.

TOP OF THE SEVENTH INNING (Dodgers 4, Phillies 3)

Chan Ho Park now pitching for the Phillies. Furcal grounds to Park. Park strikes out Kemp. Ethier walks. TBS graphic, an approximation of a strike zone, indicates the fourth ball might have been a strike. So does a slow motion replay of the pitch. Viewers are quickly reminded that the graphic is just a ‘close approximation’’ of a strike zone. OK. Ramirez steps to the plate. Ethier is caught stealing.

BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH INNING (Dodgers 4, Phillies 3)

Rollins grounds to third. Wolf has now retired 14 of the last 15 batters he has faced. Victorino lines a shot down the third base line, the ball bounding into the left-field corner. Ramirez is slow to retrieve the ball, enabling Victorino to reach third for a triple. Utley singles to right, scoring Victorino. Howard is up with a man on base, meaning the Dodgers break out the Howard Shift again. In this version, third baseman Blake is stationed where the second baseman normally positions himself. After all that, Howard walks. And that will be all for Wolf. Ronald Belisario now pitching for the Dodgers. That’s a quick hook; did Game 1 and Clayton Kershaw teach Joe Torre a lesson? Belasario faces Werth, who hits a potential inning-ending double-play grounder to third. It’s Blake to Belliard to . . . Belliard drops the ball while making the pivot. Utley is safe at third, Werth is safe at first. Torre goes to the bullpen again, bringing in Hong-Chih Kuo to pitch to Ibanez. Ibanez hits a sinking line drive to left, looks like it might fall, but Ramirez keeps running, keeps grinding and makes a lunging catch just off the tips of the outfield grass. Dodgers get out of the jam with no further damage.

TOP OF THE SIXTH INNING (Dodgers 4, Phillies 2)

Ramirez reaches first base on a throwing error by third baseman Feliz. Loney flies to left. Belliard bloops a single between three Phillie fielders; shortstop Rollins had the best shot at it, assuming Rollins had eyes in the back of his head and could make a basket catch before sliding on the turf. Ramirez moves to second. Martin is called out on strikes. Blake, 1-for-25 against Blanton in his career, tries his luck again. This time, Blake hits a bloop single to right, scoring Ramirez with Belliard taking third. Wolf flies to center. All four Dodgers runs have come with two outs.

BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH INNING (Dodgers 3, Phillies 2)

Ibanez flies to center. Feliz pops to first. Ruiz walks on a full-count pitch. Blanton hits for himself. He hit .127 during the regular season. Nothing much changes here as he forces Ruiz at second.

TOP OF THE FIFTH INNING (Dodgers 3, Phillies 2)

Wolf flies to left. Furcal grounds to second. One of the great things about baseball is that the pace is so . . . well, leisurely, you can fit highlights of another game in between pitches. With Kemp at bat, viewers watch clips of the Angels’ 11th-inning ALCS victory. Back in Philadelphia, attention returns to Kemp versus Blanton. Kemp homers to straight-away centerfield, depositing the ball into the shrubbery beyond the fence. That is the first extra-base hit for the Dodgers in the last 24 innings. Ethier lines to first.

BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH INNING (Dodgers 2, Phillies 2)

Utley flies to right. Howard strikes out looking. Wertz strikes out on three pitches. Ten in a row retired by Wolf.

TOP OF THE FOURTH INNING (Dodgers 2, Phillies 2)

Top of the batting order for the Dodgers. Furcal grounds to first. Kemp walks and becomes the first Dodger basreunner of the game. Ethier drills one down the first base line that hits umpire Tom Hallion right on the left leg. Play is stopped to see of Hallion’s all right. Hallion shakes it off. He’s one tough umpire. Ethier hits a ball to the deepest part of the park, dead centerfield. Victorino has to sprint back to make the catch as he crashes into the wall. With two outs in the fourth inning, the Dodgers get their first hit -- a line drive just inside the left-field line by Ramirez. Kemp takes third, Ramirez pulls up with a long single. Loney lines a curveball into right field, scoring Kemp and moving Ramirez to second. BULLETIN: THE DODGERS HAVE SCORED! Belliard walks to load the bases. Martin singles to left field, Ramirez scoring. Bases remain loaded. Blake grounds to second. First signs of life in the Dodgers lineup since the team landed in Philadelphia.

BOTTOM OF THE THIRD INNING (Phillies 2, Dodgers 0)

Blanton flies to right. Rollins pops to right. Victorino pops to third. Since Howard’s home run, Wolf has retired every batter he’s faced -- seven in a row.

TOP OF THE THIRD INNING (Phillies 2, Dodgers 0)

Russell Martin flies to right. Casey Blake grounds to short. Randy Wolf, former Phillie, steps to the plate amid a loud chorus of boos and grounds to first. Nine up, nine down for Blanton.

BOTTOM OF THE SECOND INNING (Phillies 2, Dodgers 0)

With Raul Ibanez at bat, the score flashes on the scoreboard: LAA 5, NYY 4. Angels win in extra innings. Will that inspire the Dodgers? Will anything inspire the Dodgers? Ibanez flies out to deep left. Pedro Feliz flies to right. Carlos Ruiz is denied a base hit when Belliard, stationed behind second base, grabs Ruiz’ grounder with his bare hand and makes a long throw in time to Loney at first. A 1-2-3 inning for Wolf. Maybe something for the Dodgers to build on.

TOP OF THE SECOND INNING (Phillies 2, Dodgers 0)

Manny Ramirez grounds to short. James Loney strikes out looking at an inside change-up. Ronnie Belliard, who had one of the three Dodgers hits in Game 3, flies to left. Six up, six down for Blanton.

BOTTOM OF THE FIRST INNING (Phillies 2, Dodgers 0)

Jimmy Rollins swings at Randy Wolf’s first pitch and lines it into left field for a single. Here we go again. Shane Victorino hits a troublesome pop fly behind second base, with both Furcal and Ronnie Belliard giving chase. Neither seems likely to take charge on the ball, which is eventually caught by right fielder Ethier, providing necessary backup. Chase Utley pops to first, no backup needed on this one. Ryan Howard hits a 3-1 pitch into the right field seats for a two-run home run. Here was go again. That’s Howard’s eighth consecutive game with at least one RBI, tying the major league record. Jayson Werth flies to right.

TOP OF THE FIRST INNING (Dodgers 0, Phillies 0)

There is no rain in the forecast, unlike Sunday, when Philadelphia rained runs all over the Dodgers pitching staff. Rafael Furcal leads off against Joe Blanton with a fly to center. Kemp grounds to third. Ethier grounds to first. Offensively speaking, the Dodgers look no different in Game 4 than they did in Game 3. Now, with no small amount of trepidation, Dodgers fans brace for the bottom of the first inning.

-- Mike Penner

Pre-game analysis:

Game 4. Dodgers down 2-1. And they really don’t need to go down 3-1. Can they rebound from Sunday’s embarrassing loss?

Randy Wolf, the Dodgers most consistent pitcher all season, will be on the mound against Joe Blanton. The Dodgers need to score early and knock Blanton out of the game to start wearing down the Phillies’ bullpen.

If the Phillies score a couple of runs in the first inning, it could be a long night for the Dodgers.

You can follow Diane Pucin’s live commentary on how TBS is handling the telecast here.