Well, that was unexpected.

Portland had no business beating the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday night, let alone running the Western Conference's top team out of town with a 3-0 throttling that ended LA's streak of dominance and could very well save the Timbers' season.

The stars were out, but Portland shone the brightest, as Mike Chabala, Jorge Perlaza and Eric Brunner scored and the faintly flickering Timbers went supernova to earn their first home win since May 21. The Galaxy hadn't lost in 14 matches and Portland looked like they'd forgotten how to win after Toronto rallied to a draw just four days earlier, but in front of a national audience, PTFC came out with purpose.

"I think that the guys have really taken a lot of the criticism in the last few weeks personally," said Timbers coach John Spencer. "I [told] them a few times that if I didn't think they had the ability, they wouldn't be here. Our concentration, at times, has let us down."

But on Wednesday, Timbers were the first to every ball, kept up their aggression and allowed their defense to bend against David Beckham and a eerily quiet Landon Donovan. The PTFC defense didn't break, though, and for much of the match made LA's biggest stars look like stand-ins.

Bottom line: Can a win like this spur a playoff run? Well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, but if Portland can show the same mettle on the road this weekend at San Jose, it's impossible to count them out (like some clueless hacks are already suggesting).

The Timbers haven't quite packed up their tents yet, and for one more week at least, relevancy has returned to the Rose City. And although it's not the most inspiring battle cry, at this point, making its next match meaningful is all Portland can ask for.

More after the jump, including locker room videos of defensive standout and goal-scorer Brunner, keeper Troy Perkins, sudden starter Kenny Cooper and coach Spencer's full post-match presser, along with highlights from a memorable night at the House of Pane.

Mike Chabala (who told me post-match he wanted to hug every single member of Timbers Army) had a fantastic performance on Wednesday, but the man of the match from my seat was Brunner, whose gritty defense set the tone for the Rose City and whose goal sealed the deal:

The visit from Hollywood brought some bizarre sub-plots to a match that should've been easy pickings for the Galaxy: Portland captain Jack Jewsbury, who hadn't missed a minute all season (and helped buoy the offense with his set-piece delivery), was suddenly out of the lineup and replaced by James Marcelin.

Then, Eddie Johnson, who scored his first MLS goal against Toronto, took a ball to the head pre-game, and was sat down with a concussion. I asked his friend and well-compensated backup Cooper when he found out he'd be starting:

Perkins: "It certainly buries some demons tonight and got rid of that bad mojo of not finishing games out."

Spencer was all smiles as he strolled into the press room and worked the crowd. "I haven't enjoyed that walk in a long time," he said.

HIGHLIGHTS: