Dodgers 7, Phillies 6

Judging by these three games — especially the past two — there might be something magical beginning to materialize in these Dodgers. These two games have followed almost the same script: fall behind early, chip away, finally push the tying run across in the eighth and win it in the ninth. But the common theme to both games has been the bullpen, which has combined to pitch nine innings and give up a grand total of one hit. Jason Johnson and Chan Ho Park were the heroes tonight, delivering 2 2/3 and 2 1/3 scoreless innings, respectively, before Jonathan Broxton blew away the Phillies in the ninth. … By the way, Brad Penny’s complete meltdown tonight was totally different from his middling, five-inning performance on Friday night at San Francisco. That was about a lack of velocity. His velocity was fine tonight, but he couldn’t locate. Believe it or not, that is actually GOOD news. The fact his ineffectiveness has been for different reasons in each of his two starts since coming off the DL suggests that there isn’t any sort of continuing problem. At any rate, Torre seemed to suggest after the game that he is still committed to Penny as one of his starters. “We’ll see how he feels, but at this point in time, he is our guy five days from now.” That would actually be six days from now against Colorado, because the Dodgers are off on Monday. … Just for kicks, I asked Joe how tough it was to double switch ManRam out of the game in the ninth inning, given that there was no guarantee the game wouldn’t go 12, 13 or maybe 25 innings. “I tried to find a way not to do it,” he said. “But I knew we had Berroa and Ardoin on the bench. Pierre would be the fourth hitter, and Ethier would be the sixth hitter. I kicked myself for it. That was the toughest decision of the year for me right there.” The good news is that thanks to Nomar’s walkoff homer, it didn’t matter. Dodgers go to 61-59, first time to two games over .500 since they were 26-24 after losing to the Cubs on May 26, and pull even with Arizona.