Oct. 4 -- WRAPPING UP GAME 3; BLANTON FOR GAME 4

BY SCOTT LAUBER

MILWAUKEE -- So, an hour before last night's game, I was talking to Gary Matthews. (Have I mentioned, at least in the past few days, that I'm writing a book with Sarge?). Anyway, he told me something interesting that I relayed in the game story in The Paper but bears repeating here. A few nights ago, during the Phillies' flight to Wisconsin, Dallas Green sat down next to Sarge on the plane and uttered a few words.

"Don't be afraid to remind the guys what happened to us in '84," he said.

For those who aren't familiar with the story, Big D was the GM and Sarge the left fielder for the '84 Cubs. Chicago won the first two games of the NLCS by a 17-2 margin over the Padres before going to San Diego and dropping the next three games. Thus, the legacy of the '84 Cubs is that they're one of seven teams to lose a best-of-five series after winning the first two games.

Could the Phillies become the eighth?

Well, if they don't win today, it's surely possible. CC Sabathia, fully rested and seeking redemption after his dreadful Game 2 performance, would be looming for Game 5 Tuesday night at the Bank. Standing in the way of a decisive Game 5 showdown is Joe Blanton. As expected, he'll get the ball for today's 1 p.m. EST game, and it's absolutely the right decision. Cole Hamels has never pitched on three days' rest, and the playoffs, after he already has thrown nearly 240 innings, isn't the time for him to start. J.A. Happ, the only other choice, is a rookie with five career starts. Blanton, meanwhile, is an established major-league pitcher with, if nothing else, a track record for keeping his team in games.

Really, though, if the Phillies don't start hitting, it won't matter who's on the mound. Ryan Howard picked up his first two hits of the series last night, but Chase Utley (2-for-12) continued to scuffle. Pat Burrell, questionable for Game 1 because of a lower back strain, is 0-for-8. Brewers starter Jeff Suppan had a lousy year (10-10, 4.96 ERA in 31 starts), but he's a money pitcher in the postseason (3-3, 3.00 in nine career starts, including 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA in the '06 NLCS against the Mets).

So, what do you think is going to happen today.

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A few notes from Game 3 ...

-Clearly, Jamie Moyer wasn't very sharp. Was he getting squeezed by plate umpire Brian Runge? Moyer didn't say anything about that. But the usually free-swinging Brewers had a good approach at the plate. Mike Cameron and Bill Hall drew walks to open the first inning, forcing Moyer to throw a lot of pitches.

-Manuel on the interference call on Shane Victorino in the ninth inning: "I've seen times where they probably didn't call that, but the umpire is standing right there on it. Vic went to take him out, and evidently, the guy thought he went too far out of the baseline, and he was too aggressive with him or something."

-Howard on the slumping offense: "It's still the same game, whether it's the playoffs or whatever. We've just got to go out there and still try to do the same things. We've got to come back [today] and try again, and hopefully, it'll be one of those breakout games."

-Burrell on the same topic: "In situations like this, things get magnified. The truth is, we won the first two games and there wasn't a whole lot of production from the middle [of the lineup]. To me, that's a good thing. That means it's coming."

-And, finally, Jimmy Rollins: "We're not struggling. We've scored nine runs in three games. That comes to three runs a game, and this time of year, three runs a game can be real big. We'd like to score a few more runs. We'll find a way."

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Finally, to Chris Yasiejko and others, I actually saw the Bronze Fonz statue last night (working on getting a photo to post here). It's located along the Riverwalk here in the heart of downtown.