PHILADELPHIA — If history and cruel fate conspire to make the Phillies long shots to win the World Series, know this: A parade down Broad Street before Halloween can't be much more improbable than what happened Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park.

Game 2 of the National League division series was the sole property of one CC Sabathia, a lefthanded pitcher with a reputation so fearsome that you expected the Minotaur to show up in a baggy Milwaukee Brewers uniform.

Sabathia would pitch every day, if asked. He would throw complete-game shutouts, he would stroke line drives, he would rebuild the U.S. economy with the help of no one but his Big Blue Ox.

It is almost unbearable to use the Biblical tale of David and Goliath in a sports story, but in Sabathia and Shane Victorino, the scale was just about right.

The 5-foot-9, 180-pound Victorino — a wiry little centerfielder who gets by on quickness and flair — reduced the 6-foot-7, 311-pound Sabathia to rubble with one swing of the bat.

Victorino hit the first postseason grand slam in Phillies history, unleashing euphoria among the largest crowd ever to fill the Bank.

"When I first hit it, I said, 'I've got to get going,"' Victorino said. "As I was running, I looked at (leftfielder Ryan) Braun stop and I was like, 'Wow, did that really just happen?' There was just excitement in the air to know we got an early lead on a guy like CC."

The rest of Game 2 was a celebration. The Phillies need just one win (in three tries, if necessary) to advance to the National League Championship Series, to play for a berth in the World Series.

How improbable was all of this?

The Phillies scored five runs against Sabathia in that second inning. Sabathia hadn't allowed five earned runs in an entire game since April. Heck, he had allowed just six earned runs in the entire month of August. He was the hottest, and arguably the best, all-around pitcher in major-league baseball.

So, naturally, the Phillies, whose offense had been missing in four games over the last two postseasons, knocked Sabathia's masterful array of pitches all over the ballpark.

Victorino doubled and hit the game-breaking grand slam off Sabathia, then added another double later. Jayson Werth hit two doubles off Sabathia. Pedro Feliz hit an RBI double to get that big second inning kick-started.

"He's been lights-out," Victorino said. "But anybody is beatable."

Sabathia was transformed from the monster under Phillies fans' collective bed into a target for taunting chants. His fierce game face dissolved into bewildered head-shaking as he wandered around the mound, muttering.

It was almost sad, like seeing a great fish that fought nobly and well get pulled into the boat and whacked with a gaff.

The captain of that boat was one Charles Fuqua Manuel. In the tempest of Sabathia worship, Manuel calmly steered his club toward a simple plan: See the ball, hit the ball.

"We're going to get some balls to hit," Manuel said before Sabathia emerged from the bullpen, blotting out the sun and trampling villages. "It's up to us to score some runs."

For good measure, the skipper made a minor adjustment in his lineup. He dropped Werth from second to sixth, and moved Victorino from sixth to second.

Werth started the second-inning rally with a one-out double. Victorino capped it with the did-that-really-just-happen grand slam.

That's a pretty good adjustment.

"I don't ever question what Charlie does," Victorino said. "He's done it all year long."

"He knows what to say," Manuel deadpanned.

"Obviously, it works," Victorino said, picking up the thought. "He's not our manager for no reason. I'm not just kissing your behind, by the way. Maybe it was mere coincidence, but it worked out for us tonight."

The Phillies came into this series with their limited experience from last year serving as both a burden and a building block. To a man, they vowed they had learned from being swept in three games by Colorado. They were tight, nervous, trying too hard to respond to the pressure of the postseason.

Now they are poised to do to the Brewers what the Rockies did to them. Milwaukee has not been in the postseason since 1982. This young group of Brewers, anchored by Braun and Prince Fielder, is exactly where the Phillies were in 2007.

"This thing ain't over yet," Brewers interim manager Dale Sveum said. "Now we get to go home for two."

He's right. The series isn't over. It won't be until the Phillies prove they have mastered the lessons of 2007 and close this thing out.

They have three chances to win one now. They have three chances because they did the improbable and beat the invincible Sabathia. And now there's no telling what improbable thing the Phillies will do next.