Phillies slug their way back to the World Series, beat dodgers 10-4 to clinch pennant

Ryan Howard named NLCS MVP

It was a night that was destined to be one filled with celebration and it did not take too long for the party to get started. It was a night of many runs coming across the plate, but on Wednesday night the Phillies had ten cross and the Dodgers only had four. The Phillies clinched their second straight National League pennant and now await the winner of the American League Championship Series before booking hotel reservations for the World Series.

Cole Hamels took the mound for the Phillies and was hoping for a dominant performance to rest his hat on. Things did not go to plan from the start as Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier battled against Hamels and finally took a pitch to the right field stands to give the Dodgers a quick 1-0 lead.

Vicente Padilla though quickly gave away the lead when he served up a three run home run to Phillies right fielder Jayson Werth. After quickly taking the momentum back to their dug out the fans at Citizens Bank Park started a countdown for how many outs were left in the game. Perhaps it was a bit premature at the time because Hamels gave up a second solo home run in the second inning to James Loney. But this was a night for the Phillies offense. Pedro Feliz belted the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the second innings for a solo home run of his own to give the Phillies a two run lead for the second time of the game.

The fourth inning would pretty much put the game away for the Phillies. Raul Ibanez hit a double to right center field to score Werth from first and when Shane Victorino was plunked by a George Sherrill pitch on the elbow with the bases loaded Ibanez came in to score and give the Phillies a 6-2 lead.

Dodgers pinch hitter Orlando Hudson cut the lead to 6-3 with a solo home run off of Hamels, the third he had allowed in the game, that wrapped around the left field foul pole. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel had seen enough and was going to take no chances in letting the Dodgers back in the game. Manuel made the trip to the mound to relieve Hamels of his duties on the mound and brought in JA Happ for two batters. Chad Durbin would finish the inning after being brought in to face Manny Ramirez and getting him to ground out on a checked grounder up the third base line. Durbin fielded the ball perfectly and tossed to first base to end the inning.

Victorino added a two run home run off of Dodgers starter turned reliever Clayton Kershaw to push the Phillies lead to 8-3 and a second Werth homer would increase the lead to 9-3 in the seventh inning. The Dodgers picked up a run in the eighth inning and Rollins scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning to put the score at 10-4. Then it was time for Brad Lidge to finish things off for the night.

After struggling through the regular season, Lidge has been perfect in the post season, and Wednesday night was no different. Lidge struck out pinch hitting Mark Loretta and got Rafael Furcal to foul out for the first two outs. To send the Phillies to the World Series for a second straight season Lidge was able to get Ronnie Belliard to fly out to Victorino in center field.

The Phillies will now play in their second straight World Series, either against the New York Yankees or Anaheim Angels (Yankees lead the ALCS 3-1, with game five Thursday). Regardless of who wins the ALCS, the Phillies will be on the road for the first two games as the American League won the home field advantage in this year's All Star Game.

Ryan Howard was named NLCS MVP after the game. Entering the game Howard was tied with Lou Gehrig for most consecutive postseason games with a run batted in (Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees was tied too but over a span of multiple season). Wednesday night rarely saw a good pitch for Howard to hit and when he did get decent pitches to hit there was nobody on base, so Howard's impressive streak has ended.

Werth now has five postseason home runs this season, which is one shy of tying the Phillies franchise record (Lenny Dykstra hit six in 1993).

Game one of the World Series will be next Wednesday at the site of the American League champions.

Congratulations to the Phillies, 2009 National League champions!