Last night was one of the most exciting games I’ve ever been involved in, and Matt Stairs put an exclamation point on it. My home run just tied the game. His put us over the top.

It just goes to show how we’re never out of a game. That said, this series is far from over. It’s seven games for a reason. They’re going to come out strong and try and take it. We can’t let them.

As you guys know, this has been a crazy month for me. I’ve had a lot of emotions, but playing games has been great therapy. It’s about winning. All the off-the-field stuff is forgotten on the field. I’m glad I’m able to play in the postseason and turn my focus on baseball. I know my grandmother is helping me.

We’re enjoying this. We’ll be ready to go Wednesday.

I don’t really want to talk about what happened in the third inning with the Dodgers. I expressed my feelings to Russell Martin and Hiroki Kuroda. It’s over as far as I’m concerned.

This wasn’t a good game for us. They had all the momentum on their side out of the gate. They came out, got five runs early. That was crucial.

We know they’re a good team. You look back at the way the games have gone. They swept us here. We swept them at home. We have to find a way to win.

Jimmy Rollins and I had a tough time getting on base, and that hurt us tonight. We’re still up, 2-1 and we have to play tomorrow. We knew coming over here wasn’t going to be easy. We expected them to give us a series. We knew it was going to tough here. Everybody knew the series wasn’t going to be four games.

Kuroda mixed his stuff well. He keeps the ball down. He has a mid 90’s fastball that complements his slider. He did a good job shutting us down tonight. They came out early and scored a lot of runs. I can’t say they’re a better team. They’re a good team, period. We were able to win those two games at home. We lost tonight. We’ll get ready to go.

I don’t really want to talk about what happened in the third inning with the Dodgers. I expressed my feelings to Russell Martin and Hiroki Kuroda. It’s over as far as I’m concerned.

This wasn’t a good game for us. They had all the momentum on their side out of the gate. They came out, got five runs early. That was crucial.

We know they’re a good team. You look back at the way the games have gone. They swept us here. We swept them at home. We have to find a way to win.

Jimmy Rollins and I had a tough time getting on base, and that hurt us tonight. We’re still up, 2-1 and we have to play tomorrow. We knew coming over here wasn’t going to be easy. We expected them to give us a series. We knew it was going to tough here. Everybody knew the series wasn’t going to be four games.

Kuroda mixed his stuff well. He keeps the ball down. He has a mid 90’s fastball that complements his slider. He did a good job shutting us down tonight. They came out early and scored a lot of runs. I can’t say they’re a better team. They’re a good team, period. We were able to win those two games at home. We lost tonight. We’ll get ready to go.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone. It’s been a tough situation, as you can imagine, and I have to move on. My family is so important to me. I appreciate everyone’s condolences. I got a lot of text messages and phone calls. I’m thankful for everyone’s love and support.

I don’t plan on missing any games. Like my father said, my grandmother would want me to be here and take care of what I need to on the field. We’ll leave it at that. I want to be here.

Losing a loved one, is hard, but it’s something that happens to everyone. I feel for Charlie, too. I’m sure he’s going through a lot and holding it inside. We’ll be OK, and we’ll be ready to play on Sunday.

Today was a difficult day. I’m sure many of your heard that I lost my
grandmother and Charlie Manuel lost his mother. It was a hard day. It’s
about baseball, though. Maybe my grandmom helped me make that catch,
and maybe Charlie’s mom helped, too. I believe that.

At the end of the day, she’d want me to stay with this team, help them
win. I’m sure Charlie’s mom is the same way. Charlie stayed strong and
kept us all strong.

As for me, I knew she’d been sick. My dad didn’t want to tell me, I
found out after the game. He knew from this morning, but didn’t want to
tell me. You’re guaranteed one thing in life, and that’s death. She’s in a better place.

She was 82 and lived a happy life. I spoke to her the other night on the phone. I’m thankful for that. Usually when I call she’s always upbeat, and last night she wasn’t very happy. She wasn’t responding very well. They’re watching over us, they’re going to help us win.

I really believe that.

Man, things can happen quickly in this game. Derek Lowe dominated all night and forced us to hit balls on the ground. He wasn’t up all night, besides those two pitches to Chase and Pat. He left balls up when he figured guys were taking first pitches to get his pitch count up. But when guys were in swing mode, he kept the ball down.

Momentum can shift off a simple mistake, or a big home run, or big pitch. The Furcal error swayed it a bit our way, then Chase came up with the home run. That put us right back in the game. That was big and it shows you can beat anyone on any given day. It was great to get game one, but we have to come back and try to win tomorrow.

On Rafael Furcal’s error, when I saw James Loney reach up, I said to myself, ‘What’s happening here?’ I slowed down to make sure I touched first, and not run by it. I wanted to make sure I could get to second.

On that ball Manny hit in the first, I’ve never seen a ball hit that fence above the padding, ever. Either it goes into the cameras or kicks off the wall and toward the fielder, where the center fielder is doing a dance trying to knock it down.

I also didn’t mean to collide with Lowe there to end the third inning. I wasn’t trying to wrestle him. It was funny because when we were getting up, he looked at me and said, ‘Sorry, I’m just slow.’ I wasn’t trying to bring him down, but if I’m falling, let me brace my fall by grabbing him. It ended up being a little more weight than I expected. As skinny as he is, he’s a pretty big boy.

Hey everyone. I’m rested and ready to go. Winning against Milwaukee was awesome.
When we got back from Milwaukee,
fans were waiting, and showed how excited they are for a championship. We’re
trying. I figure there will a lot of energy, but what happens Thursday is the
bottom line.

It’s all about winning a championship. Cole Hamels said
something the other day about turning this town from green to red, but I don’t
see it that way. My thought is, it doesn’t matter who wins a championship.
We’re playing for Philadelphia,
the city. We’re not trying to beat the Eagles. We’re not trying to outdo the
76ers or the Flyers. We’re just trying to focus on winning a World Series.

It’s kind of fun that we’re playing the Dodgers, since they
were the team that originally drafted me, then let me go twice in the Rule 5
draft. I know a lot of those guys. Russell Martin was drafted a year after I
was. James Loney, Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, I was there when all those guys
were in the minor. It’s nice to see them at the big-league level, having success
and doing well.

Of course, I want to beat them.

I thought about how I could be there with them right now, if
things had been different, but I always say that one team’s trash is another
team’s treasure. When one team doesn’t give you the opportunity, you hope to
get one somewhere else. I don’t hold any grudges. I just want to play the game
and have fun. I have to turn the page.

It’s just amazing to me that, regardless of how far we’ve
come, we still have to go further. I’m trying not to look too far ahead. We
don’t have a ring. We still have to earn it. Until then, I can’t talk about it.