LOS ANGELES — Shane Victorino and the Philadelphia Phillies struck back with long balls rather than beanballs to move within one win of the World Series.

That's the way they've played it all year.

After ducking a pitch thrown over his head the previous day, Victorino, a St. Anthony High alum from Maui, and much-traveled pinch-hitter Matt Stairs delivered two-run homers in the eighth inning last night, lifting the Phillies to a 7-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers for a 3-1 lead in the NL Championship Series.

Lefty ace Cole Hamels, who won the series opener, can pitch the Phillies to their first World Series since 1993 in Game 5 tomorrow night. He'll be opposed by Game 2 loser Chad Billingsley.

"This was the biggest game we've won so far," Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. "But the next one is even bigger. That's kind of how we look at it."

Brad Lidge got his first four-out save for the Phillies, remaining perfect this season. It was the first time the visiting team has won a game in 12 meetings between the clubs this year.

After squandering a pair of leads, Manny Ramirez and the Dodgers have a tough task ahead. Only 11 teams in major league history have come back from 3-1 deficits to win a best-of-seven postseason series — two in the NLCS.

There were no brushback pitches or other trouble last night, unlike Game 3 when the benches and bullpens emptied in the third inning, moments after Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda threw a pitch over Victorino's head in retaliation for Philadelphia's high-and-tight pitches earlier in the series.

Victorino was one of seven people fined yesterday for their conduct during the near-scuffle.

Last night, with a runner at first and one out in the eighth, Victorino lined Cory Wade's first pitch into the right-field bullpen to tie the score at 5.

"My emotions obviously kind of got to me last night," the plucky Victorino said. "But going into today's game you turn the page and you forget about it. It was just going out there, trying to get a win and getting one step closer to the World Series. But it's still far from over."

After a two-out single by Carlos Ruiz, manager Joe Torre called on closer Jonathan Broxton, the seventh Los Angeles pitcher. Broxton tried to throw a 3-1 fastball past Stairs, and the 40-year-old left-handed hitter drove it more than halfway up the right-field pavilion to put the Phillies ahead.

That was just what Stairs intended.

"My whole career, even back in the early days, my approach was try to hit the ball out of the ballpark," he said. "And it's something I enjoyed doing. In batting practice, I try to hit every ball out of the ballpark. I'm not going to lie, it's fun. I try to hit home runs and that's it. I'm not going to hit a single and steal second base. So I think the biggest thing is to get up there, swing hard and elevate."

Broxton allowed only two homers in 69 innings during the regular season. This one was a no-doubter the moment it left Stairs' bat.

"I fell behind in the count and made a mistake over the plate and he cashed in," Broxton said.

Stairs has played for 11 teams in his career. Philadelphia picked him up from Toronto on Aug. 30.

The Phillies hit an NL-leading 214 homers during the regular season and have nine in eight playoff games, good for 17 of their 35 runs.

Ramirez batted 2 for 2 with three walks last night and is 7 for 8 with a homer and seven RBIs with runners in scoring position during the playoffs.