LOS ANGELES (AP) -Two days later, Dodgers manager Joe Torre was still being second-guessed about the way he used his bullpen in Game 4 of the NL championship series.
No problem, he said.
``This time of year, it's not unusual,'' Torre said Wednesday before Game 5. ``Everybody who's a baseball fan always has an idea of what you should do, which is great. It goes with the territory. You don't base decisions on, `What am I going to say?' You make decisions based on trying to win a game.
``If there are things I have to answer for, so be it.''
Several decisions Torre made in Monday night's 7-5 loss to Philadelphia have been questioned, starting with the removal of Derek Lowe after he threw 74 pitches through five innings.
Lowe, starting on three days' rest for the fifth time in his career, gave up two runs in the first inning but none in the next four. He retired the side in order for the only time in the fifth and said afterward he felt he could have gone on.
``The thing I was surprised about was all the Derek Lowe stuff,'' Torre said. ``We had a two-run lead entering the eighth. I'll take that every day of the week. We got the lead (in the bottom of the fifth). It was a long inning.''
Torre said in any case, Lowe would have worked only one more inning. He got in trouble in the sixth inning of Game 1, allowing two homers that accounted for three runs in a 3-2 loss.
Torre also said he thought the right move was to have 20-year-old lefty Clayton Kershaw enter at the beginning of an inning. Kershaw, who pitched 1 2-3 hitless innings in Game 2, retired only one batter in the sixth, leaving with runners at second and third. Eventually, one of them scored to tie the game.
The Dodgers entered the eighth with a 5-3 lead, as Torre pointed out, but by that time they had their fifth pitcher on the mound: Hong-Chih Kuo. He came out after Ryan Howard led off with a single.
Shane Victorino and pinch-hitter Matt Stairs cracked two-run homers in the inning, with Stairs connecting off closer Jonathan Broxton, the seventh Los Angeles pitcher. Lefties Kershaw, Kuo and Joe Beimel had already been used, leaving the Dodgers without a lefty to face Stairs.
``I had no second thoughts about what happened the other day,'' Torre said. ``It's a lot worse to second-guess yourself.''
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RAYS FEVER: Nearly 5,800 seats that have been covered for Tampa Bay's first four home playoff games will be filled when the Rays return to Tropicana Field for either Game 6 of the AL championship series or Game 1 of the World Series.
Team officials initially resisted the temptation to remove the tarps from the upper level of the domed stadium for the first two rounds of the playoffs, saying they wanted to retain a more ``intimate'' feel that existed with the regular-season configuration.
At the time, the Rays agreed to uncover 5,762 seats - some obstructed-view and lacking seatbacks - only if the team advanced to the World Series. Removing the tarps will increase capacity to about 41,000 for the rest of the postseason.
``Although the seating capacity we established provides an optimal fan experience, Rays fans have made it very clear that they want us to make every possible seating opportunity available,'' team president Matt Silverman said. ``We are pleased to meet that demand.''
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MANUEL HEADING HOME: Phillies manager Charlie Manuel planned to fly home to Virginia for his mother's funeral after Wednesday night's game at Los Angeles.
June Manuel died last Friday in Roanoke, Va., after a brief illness. She was 87.
``Home seems very close,'' Manuel said. ``It's not too far that I can't get there, and I think that's what makes things easier at times, too.''
Manuel has continued managing since he learned of his mother's death, the same day Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino found out that his grandmother died in Hawaii.
Philadelphia went into Wednesday with a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven NLCS and a chance to close out the Dodgers. If necessary, Game 6 would be Friday night in Philadelphia.
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PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS: Injured pitcher Brad Penny, a 16-game winner each of the last two seasons and the Dodgers' opening-day starter last spring, isn't with the team. Los Angeles has a club option on the right-hander's contract next year.
``I've spoken to Brad, told him I want to have lunch one of these days after everything settles down,'' manager Joe Torre said. ``I think he was just torn with a lot of stuff, plus he never felt very good. I'm curious to have a conversation with him. I think it's going to be two ways.''
The 30-year-old Penny, who went 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA in 19 games, was hampered by shoulder problems most of the season and went on the 60-day disabled list in the final week. He appeared in relief twice late in the year and wasn't comfortable in that role.
``He's a young man, he has a bright future with us or somebody else,'' Torre said. ``He was frustrated being here and not being able to do something. It's tough, not being able to contribute. He hadn't pitched. Physically, I don't think it was possible. He might not feel that way. He's a starter, and we all acknowledge the fact that he's a starter.''
But Torre did make it clear last month, before Penny went on the shelf for good, that he would be used in the bullpen during the postseason if he was healthy enough to pitch.
``It just didn't look like he had the conviction (to relieve),'' Torre said.
When asked if Penny would return next year, Torre replied: ``I haven't even thought about that.''
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BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE: Their season isn't quite up in flames, but a small fire at a landmark near Fenway Park can't be a good omen for the Boston Red Sox.
The fire Wednesday blackened some panels on the red, white and blue Citgo sign over Fenway's Green Monster in left field.
The fire department said the flames were quickly put out and the blaze was likely caused by an electrical short circuit. Damage was estimated at $5,000.
Tampa Bay has hit seven homers over the Green Monster in the past two games. Boston trails the Rays 3-1 in the best-of-seven AL championship series, which resumes Thursday night.
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AP Sports Writer Beth Harris contributed to this report.
