Phillies head back to NLCS

Could have been Yorvit Torrealba, who hit a two-run double in the eighth to break a 2-all tie. Could have been Jason Giambi for his pinch-hit RBI single ahead of Torrealba’s hit. Could have been Huston Street if he had been able to hold the two-run lead he was given in the ninth and forced a Game 5 in Philadelphia.

But “Mr. Rocktober’’ never materialized for the Colorado Rockies.

Instead it was Mr. Howard and Mr. Werth and, once again, Mr. Lidge who saved the day for the Philadelphia Phillies, who with last night’s 5-4 victory at Coors Field clinched the Division Series, three games to one, and advanced to the National League Championship Series.

Ryan Howard touched Street for a two-run double to tie it, 4-4, in the ninth and Jayson Werth, who had homered in the sixth to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead, drove in Howard with a single to right.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel tried to avoid using Lidge, who had pitched the night before, but after lefty Scott Eyre put two on with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Lidge came on to face the dangerous Troy Tulowitzki and struck him out, ending Colorado’s season.

The Phillies, who begin the NLCS Thursday in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, poured out of the dugout and bullpen to celebrate their victory while 49,940 towel-waving fans suddenly went stone-cold quiet.

It was an incredible disappointment for the Rockies, whose Cinderella season turned around when Jim Tracy took over as manager of an 18-28 team and brought it well into “Rocktober.’’

“I kept telling myself, ‘You’re one good pitch away from doing this,’ ’’ said Street. “It just hurts right now. I felt like I let the team down.

“I was out there fighting as hard as I could, but it didn’t work out for me today. It’s a major disappointment because of all we’ve accomplished this year. I’m just sick about it.’’

The Phillies certainly tried to give this one away. They were holding a 2-1 lead in the eighth before a costly error by Jimmy Rollins (who couldn’t grab Chase Utley’s feed on a force play at second) and a meltdown by reliever Ryan Madsen ignited a Rockies comeback.

Twice the Phillies had the bases loaded with one out and failed to score.

Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez pitched seven strong innings, but solo homers by Shane Victorino and Werth looked good enough to support a pretty good performance by Cliff Lee.

After a nasty stretch of weather here - the first game was postponed because of cold - the temperature rose to a balmy 48 degrees by game time, but that didn’t heat up the Rockies’ bats.

Lee was successful, as usual, at keeping hitters off-balance. His only hiccup came in the sixth when Tulowitzki doubled in Todd Helton to cut the Phillies’ lead to one.

“This was pretty dramatic,’’ said Lee. “A hard-fought game. This is just one step along the way with what we’re trying to achieve.’’

But in the eighth, things began to go haywire for Lee. With one out, Dexter Fowler walked and Helton reached on a grounder to second. Utley fielded it with Fowler pretty much running in his path. Fowler avoided Utley, who flipped underhanded to second, but the ball eluded Rollins and the runners were safe.

After Ben Francisco made a risky but outstanding sliding catch in left to rob Tulowitzki, it all went south for the Phillies. An RBI single by Giambi and a two-run double by Torrealba sent the hanky-waving fans into a frenzy.

“I think the greatest thing about this team is we play until the final out is over,’’ said Howard. “We did it last year. We’ve done it so far this year. We did it in this game.

“This could have ended with a loss for us, but we didn’t let that happen.’’

Asked about his big hit, Howard said, “I was just hoping to get a pitch that was a mistake and I got one and drove it.’’

For Lidge, the postseason has been far better than his regular season. After blowing no save opportunities in 2008, he blew 11 this season. There were questions as to whether Lidge would be the Phillies’ Achilles’ heel in the playoffs, but he has become their strength again.

“It’s all about this time of the year,’’ Lidge said. “Things were shaky all year, but if they’re turning now, then I’ll take it. This is when I need to be at my best.’’

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.