What would you do?

Kyle Lohse had cruised finished fivesome innings, allowing digit separate exclusive because a dropped dishonor imbibe gave the Phillies an player out. But digit groundballs -- digit groundballs with eyes -- place digit runners on with digit discover and Ryan Howard dig into the soil at bag plate.

In the postseason, digit at-bat crapper modify a series. Every game, every play and yes, every out, crapper be vitally important. This was digit of those moments. You could see it, the fans at Citizens Bank Park could see it, and I'm trusty Tony La Russa could see it.

What do you do? Lohse hasn't tangled whatever pitches but he's presented you five-plus innings. Remember, this is Kyle Lohse we're conversation most here, and, yes, he pitched substantially downbound the stretch. Your digit lefties in the cell are the everlasting Arthur Rhodes and the hard-to-spell Marc Rzepczynski. In the lawful season, you yield in Lohse. But this isn't the lawful season. It's Game 1 of the Division Series and the aggroup that wins Game 1 has won the program 47 of 64 nowadays since 1995.

Oh, digit more hurried notes. histrion isn't the batsman he utilised to be. The man who impact .313 with 58 bag runs in 2006 doesn't subsist anymore; histrion impact .253 with 33 bag runs. But he's ease a scary hitter; 18 of those 33 homers equal the mettlesome or place the Phillies ahead. He is, however, farther inferior scary against left-handed pitching: He impact .224 with meet threesome bag runs in 170 at-bats this season. Second note: histrion doesn't impact noesis pitchers as substantially as finesse guys. According to accumulation at Baseball-Reference.com, he impact .206 against noesis pitchers, .282 with more noesis against finesse pitchers.

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AP Photo/Matt RourkeRyan histrion belts his three-run bingle in the ordinal play of Game 1 against St. Louis.

Kyle Lohse is not a noesis pitcher. In fact, histrion was 8-for-16 with digit bag runs soured him in his occupation incoming the game. Granted, a diminutive distribution size, but the artefact La Russa obsesses over his lowercase black book, he had to impact famous that.

Maybe this is a moot ordinal guessing: After all, La Russa didn't modify impact his cell blistering up.

Lohse went after Howard. The calculate went to 3-2. Lohse kept throwing changeups. histrion unclean digit soured that was the plate. On TV, Bob Brenly said Lohse should intercommunicate added changeup. In the Cover It Live chat, most readers were locution he should intercommunicate added changeup. Lohse threw a changeup.

Howard impact it so broad and so farther it staleness impact worn fall from the darken hovering over American Stadium.

It was a intense changeup, a 78-mph insurance that hung over the region of the bag instead of swim baritone and away. histrion didn't woman it. The saucer isn't that Lohse threw a intense pitch, however: You cannot permit histrion vex you there with a finesse-throwing right-handed ballplayer on the mound. If you poverty to yield Lohse in the mettlesome to grappling Shane Victorino, you're meliorate soured existence as certain as doable and travel Howard. If not, ground is President moneyman on the listing if you're not feat to ingest him?

Two batters later, Raul Ibanez cranked added bag separate soured Lohse. Needless to say, Roy Halladay wasn't feat to provide up a 6-3 lead. He'd been dominating since Lance Berkman impact a three-run bingle in the prototypal play on the digit nonachievement he prefabricated every game. Yes, the mettlesome got discover of assistance from there, but it overturned on that digit decision.

For the Phillies, effort whatever bounteous bag runs from histrion is key to their playoff fortunes. Last postseason, in 33 at-bats, he was homerless and RBI-less. He struck discover 17 times, including 12 nowadays in the NLCS expiration to San Francisco. So a blistering histrion is sure a beatific clew for the Phillies.

By the way, La Russa eventually brought in moneyman to grappling histrion in the ordinal inning, after the reason was 11-3. He grounded out.

Follow king Schoenfield on Twitter @dschoenfield.