It's hard to imagine how this could have gone much better. After a first-inning hiccup in which he walked three Brewers, the last to force in a run, Brett Myers allowed one hit over the next six innings and looked far more like the dominant, efficient ace of late July thru mid-September than the guy who was sent to the minors or knocked around in his final two starts.

Meanwhile, the Phillies worked the count against CC Sabathia--led by Myers himself, who drew an enormous walk to conclude a nine-pitch battle in the second, and was retired on a flyout after ten pitches in the fourth. Two batters after Myers drew his two-out walk, Shane Victorino blasted a hanging breaking pitch over the wall in left for his first career grand slam, giving the Phils a 5-1 lead they would not relinquish. Victorino had three hits and two steals on the night, while Jayson Werth and Jimmy Rollins--who played all game with the intensity to which we became accustomed in his 2007 MVP campaign--each had two hits and a steal. 

After Myers was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh, Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero worked through some trouble in the eighth, and Brad Lidge--looking like a very different pitcher than the guy who struggled through the ninth on Wednesday--set down the Brewers in order to give the Phillies the 5-2 win. 

Those inclined to quibble might point to the ten runners stranded by Phillies hitters, including eight in the middle innings when they had chances to salt the game away. But the bottom line is that they didn't let this one get away--and that, as TBS noted at the end of the broadcast, this win gives the Phillies their first 2-0 lead in a playoff series since the 1980 World Series. Gotta like that.