One strike away from a Game 4 defeat, the Phillies rallied to beat the Rockies Monday night and advance to the NLCS.

And it was Our Town’s Ryan Howard who struck the key blow, the two-out, two-run double  off Colorado closer Huston Street that tied the game. Howard then scored the winning run on Jayson Werth’s single.

ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark captured the drama:

“Like the 2008 Phillies before them, the 2009 Phillies are heading for an NLCS date with the Dodgers this October. They know that now, know it after winning a Division Series-sealing game for the ages, the record books and the memory banks Monday — a dramatic 5-4 win over a Rockies team that got to within one strike of forcing a Game 5 that could have rewritten all their stories. It was a game the Phillies seemingly had all but won, then a game they’d seemingly let slip into the abyss of all-time tragic Phillies losses. And then, with two outs in the ninth, they arose again to win a game so spectacular that many of the men who played in it ranked it among the greatest they’ve ever participated in.”

Few modern World Champions make a run the next season, too. But Howard believes this Phillies team is different.

“I think we’re very driven to win again. I think we really believe we can do it,” he told ESPN.com. “And I think we also know that if we do … we’ve forged something pretty cool in this game. We’ve got a lot of swagger on this team. And these guys don’t just want to be known as one-time World Series winners. We want to be in the same sentence as some of the great teams that have ever played.”

And speaking of Howard, how about this nonsense:

Tipsheet is 100 percent sure this keepsake baseball will change this young person’s life. As for Howard, he will hit another 300 or 400 career homers, so there is always next time.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while Tony La Russa ponders his Cardinals future:

• Seriously, though, how many better baseball situations would be better for La Russa than St. Louis?
• Has Dave Duncan gotten over what happened to his son Chris? Is he ready to move on with the returning staff of Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Ryan Franklin, Kyle Lohse, et al?
• Now that receiver Tim Carter is back with the Rams, is this offense finally ready to take flight?
• Are you at all curious about what Mike Tyson told Oprah while opening up on her show?
• Can we all agree that it takes a special breed of man to play fullback in the NFL?
• Does Josh McDaniels look a tad young to be a NFL head coach?

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Norman Chad, syndicated columnist: “Frankly, the referees at NBA games are as interchangeable and replaceable as toll-takers along Interstate 95. I’m not saying they don’t do a good job — most of them do — but finding other people to nail Anderson Varejao for flopping is not as difficult as, say, finding other people to analyze mitral valve prolapse data at the Mayo Clinic. To most fans, the games look the same no matter what three-man crew is working.”

David Whitley, FanHouse: “What if they threw a golf tournament and a Miss America Pageant broke out? Such was the Presidents Cup, which again had so many hugs and kisses you expected Fred Couples would be presented a tiara and scepter at the closing ceremony. A good time was had by all at Harding Park, which was not a good thing. If the Presidents Cup is ever going to matter, it needs a little less self-adoration and a little more animosity. By matter, I mean give viewers a reason to click over from the NFL on an October afternoon. The average American sports fan is conditioned to expect a couple of simple things — the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Failing those, how about a little suspense? The U.S. was so dominant I was afraid Barack Obama was going to call and apologize to the International team.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “The IndyCar finale was Saturday down at Homestead, where Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe were gunning for the season championship because IRL officials, for the life of them, could not figure a way to finagle the points standings or the race results to make Danica Patrick win.”

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “Did you see golf and rugby have been reinstated for the Rio Games (and beyond)?  But hey, it’s not like the IOC doesn’t know where to draw the line. For instance, despite intense lobbying by the Brazilians, tanning will only be a demonstration sport.”

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “A sheet of paper with an image of the Larry O’Brien Trophy has been taped to every Magic player’s locker at Amway Arena. It includes a quote from Aristotle: ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.’ You know, that’s a great quote, but it’s not among my three favorite Aristotle musings: (1) ‘All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.’ (2) ‘The gods, too, are fond of a joke.’ (3) ‘Hey, Plato, did you see that incredible gag job by Matt Holliday the other night!’”

MEGAPHONE

“I used to see all those gimmicks when I was coaching back in college. I’ve been a part of some bad performances before on defense, just not this bad.”

Jets coach Rex Ryan, annoyed by his team’s inability to stop Miami’s Wildcat offense.

Elsewhere on STLToday.com

Cards fans weighed in on the organization’s future during Monday’s live chat.