Matt Stairs hadn't gotten many plate appearances lately -- he'd had only two at-bats through the Phillies' first seven postseason games. And, as he came to the plate in the eighth inning Monday night, he couldn't even call on experience -- he had never faced Jonathan Broxton.
But the scouting report on the Dodgers' closer is rather simple. He throws a slider, but his best pitch, the one he calls on in every tight situation, is his blazing fastball, which has been known to reach into the upper 90s. So, Stairs waited. He waited for Broxton to fall into a 3-1 count, and with the Phillies and Dodgers tied in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, he turned on a 95-mph fastball on the inner half of the plate, launching it to the pavilion beyond the right-field wall.
It was the biggest homer of Stairs' career, 16 seasons in the making.
With one swing, Stairs -- a short, stocky, 40-year-old wannabe hockey player from Canada -- gave the Phillies a 7-5 victory, stunning a rally towel-waving crowd of 56,800. With their first win in six games this season at Dodger Stadium, the Phils are one victory from reaching the World Series for the first time since 1993.
"In hockey, you shoot as hard as you can, so I've always figured, why not swing as hard as I can?" Stairs said, revealing his grip-it-and-rip-it secret to hitting. "I think it's one of those things where you've been here for a month. You want to get that one big hit where you feel like you're part of the team.
"Not that I don't feel like I'm part of the team, by no means, but when you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you're getting you're (butt) hammered by guys, it's no better feeling than to have that done."
With the third pinch-hit home run by a Phillies player in an NLCS game, Stairs' place on the club -- and in franchise history -- has been cemented.
PHILLIES 7, DODGERS 5: Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs belted two-run home runs in the eighth inning to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead in the National League Championship Series. The Phillies will have a chance to secure a World Series berth with a victory in Game 5 Wednesday night. Stairs' homer was the first pinch-hit homer in an NLCS game since St. Louis' Chris Duncan went deep in 2006. Victorino collected his 11th RBI of the postseason. Closer Brad Lidge recorded a four-out save to secure the victory. Chase Utley had three hits and made a diving catch for a double play that saved two runs in the sixth inning.
