PHILADELPHIA — Jimmy Rollins doesn't want to return to Los Angeles, and thanks to his game-winning hit the Philadelphia Phillies shortstop might not have to go west.
Rollins' two-run walk-off double gave Philadelphia a 5-4 victory in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies will try to finish off the series in Game 5 on Wednesday or travel to California.
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Rollins drilled a 1-1 fastball from Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton, scoring Eric Bruntlett and Carlos Ruiz. As he rounded first base, Rollins pumped his right fist into the air. He ran toward second base, and when he saw both runs had scored he slowed up and trotted toward third base, where he was mobbed by his teammates, including 6-4, 259-pound Ryan Howard.
"I curled up in the fetal position and started throwing punches back," Rollins said. "This is big. The pressure is all on them. We just have to find a way to win one more game. We don't want to go back to Los Angeles."
Dodgers manager Joe Torre's postgame news conference was on the televisions in the Phillies clubhouse as they celebrated. Torre was talking about how Philadelphia had to win four before it would be over.
But closer Brad Lidge and his teammates exuded confidence. "Sometimes you are surprised when they don't come back," he said.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel echoed that sentiment. "All you need is a walk, a hit batsman, and all of a sudden (Rollins) hits one in the gap and we are in business," Manuel said.
Howard looked up at a TV in the clubhouse to watch a replay of Rollins' winning hit, which rolled into the gap in right-center field. "Right down the middle," Howard said of Broxton's pitch. "He couldn't have gotten it in a better place."
Rollins said he was expecting Broxton to throw a fastball high and inside. After the first pitch, Rollins adjusted his feet to a more open stance. When he saw the hit and knew the Phillies were going to win, "It felt good. It definitely felt good," he said.
"It all just came together — just sit there and catch the ball on the barrel. If you hit it on the barrel with his velocity, the ball's going to go. I was looking for a single up the middle. Sometimes you get more. He threw it right where I was looking. I got the result I wanted.
"Getting a hit is great. Driving in the winning run is even better. The pile-up can be pretty dangerous."
Source usatoday.com/
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