What does a team do when they've become mired in a 3-1 series hole? Losing Game 4 of the NLCS in heartbreaking fashion tonight means that the Dodgers can't lose again if they're planning on going to the World Series. There's plenty of second-guessing to go around after their loss last night, but none of that matters a whole lot right now. The Dodgers need to be focused winning Game 5. Pointing fingers for Game 4's loss is only going to make winning Game 5 that much harder. In all honesty, I think that Matt Stairs' pinch-hit homer last night probably ended the Dodgers' season for all intents and purposes. The turned a 5-3 lead and what seemed like a fairly easy win into a 7-5 deficit in the blink of an eye. In order to bounce back from that, they need a good start from Chad Billingsley, who was rocked in Game 2, in Game 5. That seems like a tall enough task, but after them they'll have Hiroki Kuroda on the road in Game 6 and Derek Lowe, who's been less than stellar in this series, on short rest again on the road in Game 7. That's not a great lineup for a team with no margin of error.
And yet, I don't really feel like the Dodgers have been overwhelmed in this series. Game 1 was very close and Game 4 was very close, while Games 2 and 3 were blowouts in opposite directions. In some ways, it feels like all losing last night did was narrow the Dodgers' focus. They don't need three wins; they need one win. The problem they now face s that even if they play a perfect game, the Phillies can beat them. In the wake of their heartbreaking loss last night, that's no longer something they can afford.
