Personal history and numbers don't always guide on-field performance, but they can give us a quick insight into who carries the advantage -- if ever so slight -- into a particular game. Tale O' Tape breaks down the starting pitchers to find an edge.

In what is sure to be a high-intensity game -- even higher than usual playoff games following the fracas from last night -- the Dodgers come in with the momentum and home-field advantage. Joe Blanton and Derek Lowe get the call, so let's size 'em up.

Derek Lowe

Personally - We already examined Lowe before Game 1 of this series, but tonight he comes off three days rest. The numbers don't look great. He only started once on short rest this season, and he was crushed in five innings. The final tally was seven earned runs on ten hits. Last time around Lowe didn't have a bad outing, but it wasn't great either. He dealt for five innings and then fell apart with two quick swings of the bat in the sixth.

Home Splits - Lowe is stellar at home. His ERA is more than two runs better within the confines of Dodger Stadium at 2.30 and the home WHIP is a minuscule 0.93.

You're not going to see benches clear in the playoffs very often. So when you do, you should appreciate it and enjoy it ... as long as nobody gets hurt. And nobody got hurt in tonight's bench-clearer during Game 3 of the NLCS. But some people did get nasty after Shane Victorino found a pitch come close to his head courtesy of Hiroki Kuroda, seemingly in retaliation for some brushbacks in Game 2 and earlier in Game 3 against Manny Ramirez and Russell Martin.

"Someone was bound to get hit. The situation called for it. Just don't throw at my head," Victorino explained after the game.

Dodgers third base coach Larry Bowa and Phillies first base coach Davey Lopes appeared to be two of the angriest participants in the near-scuffle, yelling at each other before the teams cleared the field. Ramirez also came in from left field and had to be restrained by teammates, manager Joe Torre and an umpire.

"It wasn't at his head, it was over his head," Martin said. "We're just trying to make a statement. It's part of the game. Manny looked a little more steamed than I was."

Our buddy Matt Snyder hit it square on the nose: Hiroki Kuroda's ability to win at home gave the Dodgers the clear advantage in Sunday night's Game 3. Turns out that he was more correct than he realized.

Not only did Kuroda pitch well with six innings of baseball enable the Dodgers to crawl back into the NLCS, his retaliation pitch which sailed over Shane Victorino's head and cleared the benches helped to not only bring the brushbacks to an end, but it won the everlasting respect of his teammates.

Of course, the five-run first inning also helped. But between Manny Ramirez having a Brett Myers pitch sail behind him in Game 2, and Russell Martin getting brushed back in the second inning on Sunday, the Dodgers needed somebody to stick up for his teammates and give the dugout a good feeling. Chad Billingsley didn't do it on Friday, so it was up to Kuroda to man up ... which he did. And no matter if you think he aimed at Victorino's head or over it (and whether he was right or wrong with his location), the pitch indeed had a purpose to help his hitters and help his team feel better about life. Mission accomplished.

What Game 3 means for the Dodgers is that not only do they not have to attempt what only three teams in professional sports have done, coming back from down 0-3 in a playoff series, but it means that the Dodgers have a renewed confidence, and a great chance to even this series on Monday with Derek Lowe going on three days rest against Joe Blanton and not Cole Hamels. After that is anyone's guess with Hamels going against Billingsley in Game 5, but I'm sure the Dodgers wouldn't mind worrying about that with a tied series.

Personal history and numbers don't always guide on-field performance, but they can give us a quick insight into who carries the advantage -- if ever so slight -- into a particular game. Tale O' Tape breaks down the starting pitchers to find an edge.

The Dodgers face an uphill battle, after falling behind 2-0 against the Phillies. They'll look for some home cooking as a remedy.

Hiroki Kuroda

Personally - Japanese import Hiroki Kuroda ended his first season in the U.S. 9-10 with a 3.73 ERA in a little over 180 innings. He doesn't strike many out (116), but he doesn't walk many (42) either. Kuroda's game is keeping the ball down and letting his defense field ground balls all game. He, like many of his teammates, was hot down the stretch, compiling a 2.57 ERA in his last 11 starts. He comes off a solid outing against the Cubs, though you could argue giving up 8 baserunners in 6 1/3 innings, the way the Cubs were swinging it, isn't really that great.

Home Splits - Interesting here, in that his ERA is virtually the same on the road and at home ... but he's 6-2 at home with two shutouts as opposed to 3-8 on the road with none. His K/BB at home is considerably better (62/14 home, 54/28 road). He also allows less than a hit per inning at home and more than one per inning on the road. It's really odd that his ERA isn't much different, but the W/L category ends up actually reflecting his better command at home.

Having fallen behind the Phillies two games to none in the NLCS, there are a number of things the Dodgers could try to get back in to the series. I, for one, would recommend playing better. Manny Ramirez has three of the Dodgers' 15 hits and he's driven in four of their seven runs through two games. A one-man team will not go to the World Series. Manny, however, has a different suggestion. Alcohol.

As for coming back, "It might be time to do some shots of Crown Royal," said Manny Ramirez, who has been there, done that. "I know this, we'll have the music on Sunday in Dodger Stadium and maybe have some fun."

In 2004, Ramirez's Red Sox were down and out against the Yankees, but just before taking the field in Game 6, Kevin Millar urged each of his teammates to down a shot of whiskey.

Manny Ramirez + alcohol + baseball just sounds like a dangerous equation to me, but if I were on the Dodgers right now, I'd probably do a shot of gasoline if Manny told me that was what made him hit the way he's been hitting (note: I would not actually do a shot of gasoline and you shouldn't either). I mean, it probably can't make things worse than letting Brett Myers drive in three runs, can it?

Hat tip to Ziller over at the Sporting Blog

There's an old adage that a playoff series never starts until each team plays a home game. The Dodgers better hope that's true because since taking a 2-0 lead into the sixth inning of the first game of this NLCS, they've gotten blown off the field by the Phillies. No one wants to fall into a 2-0 hole against anyone, much less a streaking Phillie team that's playing its best baseball of the year.

How bad are things going in LA right now? Brett Myers has as many hits in this series than Manny Ramirez. After Derek Lowe's breakdown in Game 1, Chad Billingsley laid a stinkbomb on the mound in Game 2 and now it's up to Hiroki Kuroda to keep this series from going to 3-0. That's a pretty precipitous drop from destroying the Cubs and becoming a chic World Series pick.

And yet, it's not over. The back end of the Phillies' rotation (Jamie Moyer and Joe Blanton) is not great and with a win tomorrow in Game 3, a 2-1 deficit is seems way more manageable than a 2-0 or 3-0 whole. Losing two on the road isn't the end of the world for anyone, and if Kuroda can give the Dodgers a strong start in Game 3, the 2-0 hole they're in right now will be forgotten pretty quickly.

Personal history and numbers don't always guide on-field performance, but they can give us a quick insight into who carries the advantage -- if ever so slight -- into a particular game. Tale O' Tape breaks down the starting pitchers to find an edge.

Game 2 of the NLCS pits the unpredictable Brett Myers of the Phillies against the young Chad Billingsley of the Dodgers.

Brett Myers

Personally - It was a roller-coaster campaign for Myers this season, low-lighted by a trip to the minor leagues. It did seem to work, however, because once he returned he put together an incredible eight game stretch. From late July through September 5th, Myers went 6-1 with a 1.23 ERA, with 54 strikeouts and only 10 walks in 58 1/3 innings. He also threw a complete game gem over the Brewers on September 14th, however, the other three outings after the 5th were subpar, including an abominable 10 earned run outing on the 19th against the Marlins. His last outing was a seven inning victory over the Brewers in the NLDS, where he allowed only two hits, three walks, and two earned runs. Control has been the biggest issue. If he's throwing strikes, the Phils are in for a good night.

After five innings of Game 1, the Dodgers were in great shape, leading 2-0 in one of the few games of the series where they don't have the pitching edge. That all changed very quickly when homers from Pat Burrell and Chase Utley put the Phillies ahead 3-2. The Dodgers put a scare into Brad Lidge in the ninth, as both Matt Kemp and Casey Blake hit deep fly balls -- Lidge can't keep going like this forever, one of those is going to leave the yard eventually -- but they failed to score, and the Phillies held on to take the opener.

All the news that came out of Game 1 wasn't bad for the Dodgers, however. Down 3-2 in the 7th, Joe Torre elected to use Greg Maddux to get three outs. Having Maddux throw eight pitches four days before Game 4 certainly doesn't rule out him starting on Monday, but it does indicate that LA intends to use him out of the bullpen. That means the Dodgers will either bring Derek Lowe back on three days rest, or start the 20-year old Clayton Kershaw. Either one of those is a better option than Maddux, who, despite all his experience, is an inferior option at this point.

Down 1-0, the Dodgers now assume the role of underdogs in the NLCS, but they're still in pretty decent shape. They have the clear advantage in Game 2, with one of the league's best young pitchers, Chad Billingsley, going against Brett Myers. If they win that one they'll have split the first two on the road, and that's all you can really ask for. The series then returns to L.A., where the Dodgers will throw Hiroki Kuroda against Jamie Moyer, and then one of the previously discussed Game 4 options against Joe Blanton. Los Angeles lost the first game, but that was expected; now the pressure is on Billingsley to send the series back west tied at one.

With two quick swings of the bat from Pat Burrell and Chase Utley in the sixth inning tonight, the Phillies turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Cole Hamels and the Phillies' bullpen nailed down that lead and the Phils go to sleep tonight with a 1-0 lead in the NLCS. That's all well and good, but they're going to need three more wins to take this home. So what does Game 1 really mean to them?

I think a Game 1 win was much more important for Philadelphia than for L.A. in this series. Cole Hamels vs. Derek Lowe is definitely their most favorable pitching matchup and losing tonight with Chad Billingsley (definitely the Dodgers' best pitcher right now, no matter what you might have heard from Fox's broadcast view about Lowe during tonight's game) going tomorrow and three games in L.A. after. That's not a situation I'd want to be in.

All told, I still think the Dodgers have the overall advantage in this series, but the Phillies got a great jump on them tonight. Now they don't need Brett Myers to outpitch Billingsley to stay in the series. Instead, all of the pressure is now on the 24-year-old to keep the Dodgers out of a 2-0 hole. That's got to be a situation that the Phillies' big bats like. You can't win a series in one game, but having a 1-0 lead is always better than the alternative.

We've talked about it and made our predictions, but now it's time to play the games! It's the East Coast vs. the West Coast as Cole Hamels and the Phillies host Derek Lowe and the Dodgers tonight in Game 1 of the NLCS.

These two teams split their eight regular season matchups. The Dodgers won each of the last four meetings, but Hamels has been nearly unhittable so far in the playoffs. What's going to happen? Join us below the jump at 8:15 PM ET to find out!