POWER PLAY

PHILADELPHIA -- The National League Championship Series doesn’t start until this evening, but Dodgers Manager Joe Torre has already made it clear that he’ll be making some changes.

Hong-Chih Kuo, who missed the Dodgers’ division series sweep of the Chicago Cubs because of elbow problems, will be on the roster to face the Philadelphia Phillies in this round. The Dodgers’ other two left-handers, Clayton Kershaw and Joe Beimel, will probably pitch. Kershaw could even start.

“They’re certainly different from Chicago, as far as their damage guys are concerned,” Torre said.

How so?

“There’s no question, their left-handed hitters are better than Chicago’s,” Dodgers pitcher Greg Maddux said.

And more plentiful.

The only notable left-handed bat in the Cubs’ lineup was Jim Edmonds.

The Phillies’ leadoff hitter, Jimmy Rollins, is a switch-hitter. So is Shane Victorino, who hits second. Chase Utley and MVP candidate Ryan Howard, who hit third and fourth, are left-handed.

“We obviously have to use more left-handed pitching,” said Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti, noting how not a single pitch by his team in the previous round was thrown by a left-hander.

No National League team hit the Dodgers better in the regular season than the Phillies.

The Dodgers split eight games against the NL East champions -- the Dodgers swept the Phillies at Dodger Stadium and the Phillies did the same to them at Citizens Bank Park -- but their team earned-run average in those games was 5.48, higher than it was against any other NL team.

“They do damage and they do it quick,” Dodgers third base coach Larry Bowa said.

The Phillies led the National League with 214 home runs -- including 48 by Howard and 33 apiece by Utley and Pat Burrell -- and were fourth with 136 steals -- 47 by Rollins.

But Torre will only do so much to combat that.

Right-handers Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda will start the first three games of the best-of-seven series, in that order, as they did in the division series.

“The way they pitched in the Cubs series, I don’t think it matters who they pitch to,” Torre said of the trio that had a combined 1.42 ERA in the opening round.

Lowe could pitch Game 4 at Dodger Stadium on Monday on three days’ rest, or that turn in the rotation could go to the 20-year-old Kershaw or 42-year-old Maddux.

Starting Kershaw wasn’t an option until Kuo was cleared by the training staff to pitch. Pointing to how Utley and Howard sit in the middle of the Phillies’ lineup, Torre said it’s necessary to have a second left-hander in the bullpen alongside Beimel.

In addition to the Phillies’ lineup, the Dodgers also have to contend with their hitter-friendly park.

Like everywhere else, the mound at Citizens Bank Park stands 60 feet, 6 inches away from home plate.

But Beimel said that when pitching in Philadelphia, he feels as if he’s closer to the plate.

Perhaps it’s an optical illusion created by the bricks that make up the backstop, he said. Or maybe something about the mound’s incline.

“It makes you feel good about yourself,” Beimel said. “That’s until you turn around and look at the fence. The next thing you know, they’ve hit a popup that goes over the fence.”

Beimel was saddled with a loss in the Dodgers’ visit to Philadelphia in August.

Lowe conceded that mistakes here are punished more severely. But he also said that the Dodgers heard similar talk as they were heading into their division series opener at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

“They were talking about the wind and how it’s going to affect the way you pitch,” Lowe said. “And I’ll say the same thing I said back then: If you go into a game worrying about elements you can’t control, you’re setting yourself up for a negative mind-set already.”

And fans to remind them of that.

Bowa, who played and managed in Philadelphia, said he warned his players of how loud Phillies fans can be.

“They won’t be quiet if they’re down by three runs,” Bowa said, a reference to how Wrigley Field fell silent when James Loney hit a grand slam to put the Dodgers ahead, 4-2, in Game 1. “The fans will keep yelling until the last out.”

Falling behind the Phillies can be trouble.

Phillies closer Brad Lidge converted 41 of 41 save chances in the regular season and was two for two in the division series against Milwaukee.

Including the postseason, the Phillies are 82-0 when leading at the end of the eighth inning.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com