J.A. Happ walks in go-ahead run in 8th and Dodgers rally past Phillies 2-1 to tie NLCS 1-1

Walk in the park: Dodgers rally on Happ’s walk

LOS ANGELES — Keeping the Dodgers down through seven innings is no guarantee of a victory. Philadelphia found that out the hard way. Pedro Martinez allowed just two hits over seven shutout innings for the Phillies, but once he left, the Dodgers staged their latest postseason rally in the weirdest, wackiest way.

A grounder off a fielder’s glove. A bunt that slipped by two players. Another throwing error by Chase Utley, along with a pinch-hit single and two walks in the eighth inning added up to a 2-1 victory over the Phillies on Friday, tying the NL championship series at one game apiece.

“It does so much for your confidence,” Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake said. “We’re starting over.”

Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Sunday in Philadelphia.

“We only need three more games to do something special,” said Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez, who went 0 for 4 with a strikeout.

Eight of the Dodgers’ 42 comeback wins during the regular season came when trailing after seven innings. Now, they have two such wins in this postseason.

“We’ve been doing it all year, it seems like. We’re relentless. We never give up,” catcher Russell Martin said. “We go out there and compete, play through 27 outs, and whatever happens, happens. But we never keep our heads down.”

Andre Ethier drew a bases-loaded, two-out walk from rookie J.A. Happ, capping the Dodgers’ rally in the eighth.

Vicente Padilla pitched brilliantly for 7 1-3 innings and the Los Angeles bullpen did the rest. Hong-Chih Kuo threw three pitches, getting two outs and the win, and Jonathan Broxton worked a perfect ninth for the save.

Philadelphia wound up using five relievers in the eighth, but not closer Brad Lidge, who didn’t get into the game.

“I don’t think it will have any lasting effect on us,” Martinez said. “We didn’t execute. We made errors. If we hit like we normally do, I don’t think the game’s going to end up 2-1.”

For the second time in this year’s playoffs, a visiting team let a late lead slip away at Dodger Stadium. Last week, St. Louis left fielder Matt Holliday’s two-out error on an easy fly ball in the ninth doomed the Cardinals, who got swept by the Dodgers.

They perfected their late-inning magic during the regular season by winning 12 games in walk-offs, third best in the majors. It didn’t quite come down to that Friday.

Martinez and Padilla dueled through seven innings in a matchup of castoffs.

Padilla allowed one run and four hits, struck out six and walked one. He exited to a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 56,000, tipping his cap as he walked off.

“It’s my first time playing in front of a big crowd like this in a game that’s more important than I’ve ever pitched in my life, and I was very emotional,” Padilla said through a translator.

An injury-plagued Martinez was let go by the Mets last season, while Padilla got dumped by Texas in August. He signed with the Dodgers two days later, excelled in their drive to a second consecutive NL West title and pitched well against St. Louis in the first round.

“I was very happy with the way I pitched,” Padilla said. “Although we were losing, I knew that the guys were going to come back, and I think I’m more happy now because the team won.”

Ethier led the Dodgers with a career-high 31 homers in the regular season, but he resisted his instincts with the bases loaded and a full count.

“Of course, you want to get the job done by swinging, but at the same time, don’t be too aggressive and don’t get yourself out,” he said. “Donnie (hitting coach Mattingly) has been preaching to me a lot that once the playoffs start, be patient, get your pitch to hit and see it. Donnie’s voice was in my head the whole time, and I guess it came in handy there.”

The Dodgers were down 1-0 when Blake opened the eighth with a single off the outstretched glove of third baseman Pedro Feliz. Ronnie Belliard’s bunt single got past Chan Ho Park and first baseman Ryan Howard.

“The bunt was a huge play, the fact that it got by Chan Ho and it got over in no-man’s-land where Howard couldn’t get to it,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “It seemed like we couldn’t get out of the inning.”

Martin followed with a grounder to Feliz, who made a good throw to Utley. But once again, the four-time All-Star threw away the relay after making just four throwing errors in the regular season. This time, it allowed pinch-runner Juan Pierre to score the tying run from second.

“I had plenty of time to turn it. I just didn’t make the throw,” Utley said. “A lot of things could have gone differently, not just that play. Chan Ho made a good pitch to get a ground ball, which was what we needed, but we couldn’t turn it.”

After pinch-hitter Jim Thome singled off Scott Eyre, Rafael Furcal drew a walk from Ryan Madson that loaded the bases. Matt Kemp struck out before Happ relieved and walked Ethier.

“He laid off what looked like some tough pitches away, and at 3-and-2 it’s tough when your mentality is swing, swing, swing to take a pitch, and it was huge,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

Former Dodgers pitcher Park took the loss, giving up two runs and two hits in one-third of an inning.

Howard’s homer in the fourth off Padilla accounted for the only run until the eighth.