Werth’s homer, Howard’s triple give Phils 8-0 lead over Dodgers after 6 innings in NLCS Game 3

Werth, Howard give Phils 8-0 lead after 6 innings

PHILADELPHIA — Cliff Lee allowed only two hits, Jayson Werth homered and Ryan Howard hustled for a triple to give the Philadelphia Phillies an 8-0 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers after six innings Sunday night in Game 3 of the NL championship series.

Howard’s hit keyed a four-run burst in the first inning. He has an RBI in all seven of the Phillies’ postseason games this year.

Jimmy Rollins’ RBI double in the second inning made it 5-0 and chased Hiroki Kuroda. While the Los Angeles pitchers struggled, Lee cruised.

Lee gave up just two singles to Manny Ramirez, walked none and struck out six.

With the series tied at 1, Game 3 began on a brisk 46-degree night with players wearing long sleeves. They left the sunscreen and the balmy, 90-degree temperatures behind at Dodger Stadium.

The Phillies brought their bats and rocked Kuroda, making his first start since Sept. 28.

Kuroda was unavailable for the division series against St. Louis because of a herniation in his cervical spine. He had already sat out two months with an oblique strain and another three weeks after he was struck by a line drive.

Shane Victorino, who exchanged heated words with Kuroda in last year’s NLCS, singled to right and stole second. Chase Utley started to make up for two costly throwing errors in the first two games with a single, sending Victorino to third.

Known more for his mammoth homers than legging out extra-base hits, Howard ran out of the box on a shot into the right-field corner. His headfirst slide into third gave him his first career postseason triple and the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

Werth followed with a shot into the shrubs beyond the center-field wall for his first postseason homer of 2009 that sent the fans into a frenzy and made them forget about the chilly temperatures.

Rollins drove in Carlos Ruiz, who doubled to lead off the second inning. Scott Elbert relieved Kuroda and didn’t fare any better.

He walked Victorino, threw a wild pitch, and walked Utley to load the bases. Howard’s RBI groundout made it 6-0.

Exit Elbert, enter Chad Billingsley.

Utley’s throwing woes surfaced in the fourth when he one-hopped a routine throw to first that Howard scooped to end the inning. Utley heard cheers in the fifth when he made a perfect throw to second base to erase Ramirez.

Lee picked up early where he left off in the division series. After going 1-0 and allowing two earned runs in 16 1-3 innings against Colorado, the left-hander again was in control.

Lee received plenty of run support. Pedro Feliz’s RBI triple made it 7-0 and he scored on Carlos Ruiz’s single in the fifth.

Andre Ethier batted in the first with chants of “Let’s Go Phillies!” echoing throughout Citizens Bank Park. The bundled-up fans dressed in their Phillies red energetically waved their white rally towels and erupted when Ethier went down swinging.

The Phillies beat the Dodgers last year in the NLCS in five games and went on to defeat Tampa Bay in the World Series.

Former Phillies Vicente Padilla and Randy Wolf were booed during NLCS introductions. Former shortstop and manager Larry Bowa received a mixed reaction and there was a nice ovation for former slugging first baseman Jim Thome.