Dodgers Return Home Cooking, Down Phillies, 7-2

The Dodgers cut Philadelphia's NLCS lead to 2-1 tonight, riding a 5-run first inning and the mental boost of a bench-clearing standoff to a 7-2 victory in front of a record Dodger Stadium crowd of 56,800. The teams exchanged errant pitches in the second and third innings before the benches and bullpens emptied for a spell of shouting and sniping but no violence or ejections, the LA Times reports.

"We needed to get the momentum back," LA catcher Russell Martin said. "I think we did that." The wheels came off Phillies lefty Jamie Moyer, at 45 the oldest pitcher to start an LCS game and the second oldest to start in the postseason, in the first as the Dodgers batted around. He faced 11 batters, six of whom hit safely, and hit a batter. (More baseball stories.)