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Dodgers Take Day Off

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By BETH HARRIS

The Associated Press

Published: October 15, 2008

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers are facing a difficult road to get back in the NL Championship Series, and Manager Joe Torre decided the best way to begin that process was a day off.

No batting practice Tuesday. No infield, either. Just some time away from the ballpark to rest and a few extra moments for Torre to come up with something to say with the Dodgers coming off a costly late-inning loss and trailing the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.

"I'll just remind them of everything that they've accomplished to this point and to just continue to fight," he said. "You don't get to this time of year without the ability to win three, four, five games in a row."

The Dodgers are in a hole after pinch-hitter Matt Stairs' two-out, two-run homer off Jonathan Broxton capped a four-run eighth and sent the Phillies to a 7-5 victory Monday night.

"I think the fans were just as disappointed and shocked as we were," Casey Blake said after the Dodgers blew a two-run lead. "We have nothing to lose now. We need to grasp on to every positive thought we can at this time."

That's why Torre canceled the team's scheduled workout, believing another round of BP was useless.

"I just thought getting away from it would probably benefit them more than anything else," he said. "I sense we'll be back here with the right attitude. These guys have been playing hard. There's a little inexperience sprinkled in, but we know that. But they're certainly not afraid."

History is on Philadelphia's side. Nine of the previous 11 teams to go ahead 3-1 went on to win the NLCS.

"We're anticipating something good to happen," Jimmy Rollins said. "No one is overly excited. When we get there, we'll be excited."

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