Myers swings hot bat

PHILADELPHIA – Brett Myers stood on first base, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders. He couldn’t explain his hitting success, and no one ever expected it.

Myers did better at the plate than on the mound, going 3 for 3 with three RBIs, and Shane Victorino drove in four runs as the Philadelphia Phillies overcame another homer by Manny Ramirez to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-5 Friday for a 2-0 lead in the N.L. Championship Series.

“I’m not a very good hitter,” said Myers, who became the first pitcher to get three hits in an NLCS game. “I just get lucky occasionally. I’m baffled by it. I would’ve rather pitched better.”

A grieving Charlie Manuel was in the dugout with the Phillies, hours after the manager’s mother died. Players and coaches from both teams offered condolences before the game. Manuel didn’t speak to reporters.

“I know Charlie told me he talked to his mom on a regular basis and her only concern was for him to go out and win ballgames,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

The Phillies rallied around their skipper, and they’ll have to do the same for their spark-plug center fielder. Victorino was told after the game that his grandmother died Friday morning.

Victorino hopes to attend the funeral in Hawaii without missing any games.

Victorino made a clutch catch with two on to end the seventh, and Brad Lidge hung on in the ninth for his second save of the series. He walked Ramirez and James Loney, then struck out Matt Kemp and Nomar Garciaparra to end it.

“We really wanted to win today for Charlie,” Lidge said.

The series shifts to L.A. for Game 3 on Sunday night with Jamie Moyer pitching for Philadelphia against Hiroki Kuroda.

Myers wasn’t sharp on the mound, allowing five runs and six hits in five innings. Good thing for the Phillies that he’s suddenly become a pesky batter after hitting .069 with one RBI in the season.

“He had four hits all year and three today. That’s tough to count on and defend against,” Torre said.

Myers was surprised, too. At one point, he stood in the dugout, covered his eyes with one hand and feigned a swing with the other, showing a teammate how he did it.

The Phillies, appearing in their first NLCS in 15 years, are two wins from the World Series. They’ve won just one pennant (1980) in the franchise’s 126 years.

“We’re not comfortable until we’re finished with this whole thing,” Myers said. “We’re going to keep fighting.”

Ramirez did his best to spoil the Phillies’ fun.

After grinning when a pitch from Myers sailed behind his back in the first inning, he lined a three-run shot into the flower bed just beyond the left-field wall to pull the Dodgers to 8-5 in the fourth.

Ramirez has hit a record 27 homers in the postseason. His 71 RBIs are second only to Bernie Williams’ 80.

“I’d want to have a guy like that on my team,” Ramirez said of Myers. “He’s going to go out there and battle.”

Myers left after tossing a scoreless fifth, and four relievers kept the Dodgers off the scoreboard the last four innings. Chad Durbin, J.C. Romero and Ryan Madson combined for nine outs.

Lidge finished for his fourth postseason save and his 45th in 45 chances this year.