After going 2-for-5 with four RBIs, saving two runs with a leaping catch and lifting the Phillies to an 8-5 victory in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, Shane Victorino teased reporters as they walked into the clubhouse Friday night.
Minutes later, he cried inconsolably. Victorino, the Phillies' happy-go-lucky center fielder, learned after the game that his 82-year-old grandmother, Irene Victorino, had passed away in Hawaii. He got the news from his father, Mike, and returned to the clubhouse with tears filling his eyes.
Before the game, manager Charlie Manuel found out that his 87-year-old mother, June Manuel, passed away in Virginia. She had a heart attack earlier in the week and had been rushed to Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
"I guess this is Black Friday, after all," pitcher Brett Myers said from a clubhouse that didn't celebrate the Phillies' victory.
Added third basemen Greg Dobbs, "I can't even imagine what they must be going through emotionally."
Manuel declined to speak to reporters, and Victorino, visibly shaken after speaking with his father, preferred to keep the focus on baseball. Manuel and Victorino boarded the Phillies' plane and planned to stay with the team in Los Angeles, where the Phillies and Dodgers will play Game 3 on Sunday night.
"At the end of the day, it's about what she'd want me to do," Victorino said. "She'd want me to stay with the team. She lived a happy life. Last night, I talked to her and she wasn't responding very well. I knew something was wrong."
Said closer Brad Lidge, "There's other things that are more important than baseball. Family comes first for everybody. It's tough when something like this happens. Two things in one day like this is unfortunate. Hopefully, they'll be able to get their head around this, and we'll do what we can to help them through it."
PHILLIES 8, DODGERS 5: Brett Myers, a .116 career-hitting pitcher, picked up three hits and drove in three runs to lead the Phillies in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series at Citizens Bank Park. Myers didn't pitch as well, allowing five runs in five innings. But the Phillies' bullpen combined for four shutout innings. The Phillies scored four runs in the second and third innings. CF Shane Victorino went 2-for-5 with four RBIs and made a leaping catch in front of the wall in left-center field in the seventh inning to save at least two runs.
