HARRY HOW / Getty Images Matt Stairs is congratulated by his Philadelphia teammates after hitting a two-run homer that provided the winning margin.

LOS ANGELES – Tommy Lasorda saw one baseball fly over the right-field wall. Then another. “I can't believe it,” Lasorda said, looking like he had seen a ghost. “I can't believe it.” The former Dodgers manager had plenty of stupefied company last night at Dodger Stadium, where the Phillies grabbed control of the National League Championship Series with a pair of two-run home runs in the eighth inning.

LOS ANGELES – Matt Stairs may lead the major leagues in mileage. His single entry in the Baseball Encyclopedia speaks several volumes: 11 big league ballclubs, 11 minor league stops, plus a cup of sake with Japan's Chunichi Dragons.

BOSTON – For those who thought the Tampa Bay Rays would be intimidated by their first postseason experience in Fenway Park, they delivered a booming message to the contrary yesterday. Bolting to an early five-run lead and sending drives over the Green Monster as if it were batting practice, the Rays pounded the Boston Red Sox 9-1 in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series to take a 2-1 lead in the bet-of-seven series.

The Chargers have a new perspective on their season, but there is also pragmatism. “The dust settles, and we come in here today and we are 3-3,” Philip Rivers said yesterday afternoon. “That's still where we are, and we have a long way to go . . . We won one game. It's key to understand we didn't all of a sudden change the season or accomplish something huge. What we did was give ourselves a chance to accomplish everything we wanted to.”

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