The Los Angeles Dodgers will send sinkerballer Derek Lowe to the mound to oppose Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels when the National League Championship Series gets underway in Philadelphia on Thursday. Lowe was 15-11 with a 3.24 earned run average for the Dodgers and manager Joe Torre, who steered Los Angeles to the postseason in his first season at the helm after taking the New York Yankees to the playoffs 12 years in a row. Hamels was virtually identical to Lowe this season with a 15-10 mark and a 3.09 ERA. The other half of baseball's final four opens Friday when the young Tampa Bay Rays host 2007 World Series champions Boston Red Sox in the American League best-of-seven playoffs. The pitching-strong Dodgers allowed the second fewest runs in the league and fewest homers and they must be on their game to contain the homer-happy Phillies and sluggers Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Pat Burrell. Los Angeles ranked 13th in runs and homers in the 16-team league but the mid-season additions of Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake added punch to their lineup. In a third of a season after coming over from the Red Sox, the 36-year-old, dreadlocked Ramirez batted .396 with 17 home runs and 53 RBIs for the Dodgers. Ramirez, who hit .500 with two homers in a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the first round, will see a familiar face in the other dugout in Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. Manuel was Ramirez's minor league manager in his early professional days with the Cleveland Indians organization and later was his hitting coach and manager in Cleveland. The AL series features the playoff-seasoned Red Sox against the rising Rays, who edged Boston for the East Division title and are in the postseason for the first time in their 11th year of existence. The Red Sox, who have not had hard-throwing ace Josh Beckett at his best because of injuries, are relying on Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka to head the starting rotation and deliver a lead to closer Jonathan Papelbon. Tampa Bay boast better depth in the rotation with Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza and Andy Sonnanstine but are using a bullpen by committee of Australian Grant Balfour, Dan Wheeler and lefty J.P. Howell to close games. Veterans David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis supply power in a Boston lineup missing injured third baseman Mike Lowell. Rookie third baseman Evan Longoria and centerfielder B.J. Upton delivered the long-ball in Tampa's first-round win over the Chicago White Sox. Home field made a big difference between the four teams in the regular season which favours the Phillies and Rays, who would have four games at home if their series goes to seven. Philadelphia and Los Angeles split eight games with the home side winning every time. Tampa won their season series against Boston 10-8, going 8-1 at home and 2-7 at Fenway Park. – Reuters __
