"In the end Thursday night, grit won over glitz.

Philadelphia's Raul Ibañez, the hardworking, 36th-round draft pick, overshadowed the Dodgers' Manny Ramirez, the slugging drug cheat with dreadlocks. Ibañez is proof that there's nothing wrong with a dream. The lifetime grinder lifted the Phillies to an 8-6 victory over the Dodgers, his three-run home run the final loop in Thursday's entertaining rollercoaster ride.

"My heart is still pounding," admitted Phillies reliever Chan Ho Park. "What a game."

Given the quicksand nature of the Phillies' bullpen, it felt like the Dodgers were leading, even when they were trailing 5-4 in the eighth. But everything changed with Ibañez's swing. Facing George Sherrill, Ibañez crushed a hanging breaking ball into the right-field seats. Sherrill, his former teammate in Seattle, hadn't allowed a home run to a left-hander all season.

"You try to do less," Ibañez said, "and you end up doing more."

Even the Phillies' relievers couldn't blow a four-run lead. Not that they didn't try.

Ryan Madson was tagged for two runs on four hits in the bottom of the eighth. But when he needed to make a pitch, he retired Ramirez on a weak groundball with runners at the corners.

"I just wanted to get out of there with us ahead," Madson said."