THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Although Manny Ramirez came through in yet another big playoff moment for the Los Angeles Dodgers, this year’s Manny couldn’t do it twice.
Ramirez homered in the fifth inning of the NL championship series opener Thursday night against Philadelphia, hitting a dramatic two-run shot that suggested the slugger’s post-season magic had returned near the close of an up-and-down season.
Instead, Manny grounded out meekly in the seventh inning with a runner in scoring position. He then stranded two runners in the eighth with another inning-ending grounder that killed Los Angeles’ best late rally in an 8-6 loss.
Baseball’s career post-season homers leader added his 29th, but the Dodgers needed more from him to avoid losing home-field advantage in the series.
The fifth-inning homer, which Ramirez admired for a few jaunty moments at home plate, shook Dodger Stadium with electric anticipation while cutting Philadelphia’s lead to 5-4.
Los Angeles’ fans radiated that familiar feeling from last fall, when Hollywood’s newest star drove the Dodgers into the NL championship series with a series of big hits and RBIs.
This season hasn’t been nearly as magical, give or take a pinch-hit grand slam or two.
When he came up against former Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park in the seventh, the old stadium rocked again — but Ramirez chopped a grounder to third base with nobody out, leaving Andre Ethier at second. Park then retired Matt Kemp and Casey Blake, and the Phillies scored three runs in the eighth to gain some cushion.
Ramirez then came up in what could have been the game’s biggest moment, with two runners on and two outs and Los Angeles down two in the eighth. Reliever Ryan Madson went after him with high fastballs twice topping 94 mph, but Ramirez couldn’t jump on them — and he eventually chopped a harmless grounder to third.
Ramirez’s season began ominously with his 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy. Ramirez then endured several dry spells during which manager Joe Torre suggested the slugger was trying too hard — something that’s rarely been perceived as a problem for a player whose body language in Boston sometimes suggested to fans he wasn’t trying at all.
He hit 19 homers in 104 regular-season games, including a grand slam against Cincinnati that was later memorialized with a bobblehead doll, but didn’t provide nearly as much impact as in his Dodgers debut.
Ramirez also was spectacular in last season’s playoffs, batting .520 with four homers, 10 RBIs, nine runs scored and 11 walks while hitting safely in all eight games, leading Los Angeles to the NLCS and an eventual loss to Philadelphia.
This month, Ramirez went 4 for 13 with three doubles and just two RBIs during the Dodgers’ three-game sweep of the Cardinals in the division series. After going 1 for 8 at Dodger Stadium, he drove in his only two runs with a first-inning double in the Dodgers’ series-clinching victory in St. Louis last Saturday — a big hit, but not a game-changer of the type he’s regularly provided over the years.
Ramirez struck out and popped to second base in his first two at-bats against Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels before uncorking his homer.
