PHILADELPHIA - Brett Myers stood on first base, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders. He couldn’t explain his hitting success, and no one ever expected it.

Myers did better at the plate than on the mound, going 3-for-3 with three RBI as the Philadelphia Phillies overcame another homer by Manny Ramirez to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-5 Friday for a 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series.

“I’m not a very good hitter,” said Myers, who became the first pitcher to get three hits in an NLCS game. “I just get lucky occasionally. I’m baffled by it. I would’ve rather pitched better.”

Shane Victorino drove in four runs for the Phillies.

Grieving Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel was in the dugout, hours after his mother died. Players and coaches from both teams offered condolences before the game. Manuel didn’t speak to reporters.

“I know Charlie told me he talked to his mom on a regular basis and her only concern was for him to go out and win ballgames,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

The Phillies rallied around their skipper.

“We were pretty shocked to hear it,” closer Brad Lidge said. “We really wanted to win today for Charlie.”

Victorino made a clutch catch with two on to end the seventh, and Lidge hung on in the ninth for his second save of the series. He walked Ramirez and James Loney, then struck out Matt Kemp and Nomar Garciaparra to end it.

The series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Sunday night, with 45-year-old Jamie Moyer pitching for Philadelphia against Hiroki Kuroda.

Myers wasn’t sharp on the mound, allowing five runs and six hits in five innings. Good thing for the Phillies that he’s suddenly become a pesky batter after hitting .069 with one RBI in the regular season.

“He had four hits all year and three today. That’s tough to count on and defend against,” Torre said.

The Phillies, appearing in their first NLCS in 15 years, are two wins from the World Series. They’ve won just one championship (1980) in the franchise’s 126 years.

“We’re not comfortable until we’re finished with this whole thing,” Myers said. “We’re going to keep fighting.”

After grinning when a pitch from Myers sailed behind his back in the first inning, Ramirez lined a three-run shot into the flower bed just beyond the left-field wall to pull the Dodgers to 8-5 in the fourth.

Ramirez has hit a record 27 homers in the postseason. His 71 RBI are second only to Bernie Williams’ 80.

“I’d want to have a guy like that on my team,” Ramirez said of Myers. “He’s going to go out there and battle.”

Myers left after tossing a scoreless fifth, and four relievers kept the Dodgers off the scoreboard the last four innings. Chad Durbin, J.C. Romero and Ryan Madson combined for nine outs.

Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley allowed eight runs - seven earned - and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Myers had a go-ahead RBI single with two outs in a four-run second inning, and his two-run single chased Billingsley in the third. Myers was 4-for-58 in the regular season and is a lifetime .116 hitter.

Billingsley struck out four of the first six batters he faced but quickly ran into trouble after fanning Pat Burrell and Jayson Werth in the second.

Greg Dobbs hit a soft single up the middle and scored when Carlos Ruiz hit a double to left-center. Myers lined the next pitch to right-center to drive in Ruiz and give the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

Jimmy Rollins bounced a single up the middle and Myers chugged toward third. Kemp misplayed the ball in center field or he could’ve thrown Myers out to end the inning. Rollins hustled into second on the play. Victorino followed with a two-run single to left-center to make it 4-1.