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Recap: Philadelphia vs. Los Angeles
By Sports Network
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Jayson Werth's three-run, first-inning home run set the tone, and the Philadelphia Phillies never looked back on their way to a second straight World Series appearance, capturing the National League pennant with an 10-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park.
Game 5 of the National League Championship Series followed a familiar series script, as the Phillies top-to-bottom offensive efficiency overpowered the Dodgers in winning the best-of-seven series, 4-1 -- the same amount of games they needed to dispose of the Dodgers in last season's NLCS. This marked the first NLCS rematch since Houston and St. Louis met in 2004 and 2005.
Werth added a solo shot to deep left-center field in the bottom of the seventh, putting an exclamation point on the blowout for the defending World Series champions and pushing the number of home runs in the game to seven, tying an LCS record.
The Dodgers got one run and loaded the bases in the eighth for a 9-4 deficit before Ryan Madson got James Loney to pop out to third, fanned Russell Martin and got Casey Blake to ground into a force out to end the threat.
The Phillies will now wait one week to begin the World Series in either the Bronx or Anaheim next Wednesday. The Yankees lead the Angels in the American League Championship Series, 3-1, with Game 5 Thursday night out west.
Chad Durbin (1-0) picked up the victory with 1 1/3 frames of flawless pitching, retiring all four batters he faced. Werth had three hits, while Shane Victorino and Pedro Feliz also homered for the Phillies, who are the first National League team since the 1995-1996 Braves to reach the World Series in consecutive seasons. The 1975-1976 Cincinnati Reds were the last National League team to repeat as World Series champions.
That series will begin next week, but Wednesday night was about the Phillies' prolific offense, which scored 10 times despite no hits from Ryan Howard, who walked twice but saw his consecutive-game RBI streak in the postseason end at eight games, leaving him in a tie with former Yankee great Lou Gehrig and current Yankee Alex Rodriguez, who can set the record on Thursday night.
Vicente Padilla (1-1) was hit with the loss, giving up six runs on four hits with two costly walks in three-plus frames. His opposing hurler, Cole Hamels, continued to struggle during the postseason after winning the LCS and World Series MVP Awards last season.
The southpaw gave up three runs -- all on solo home runs -- on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts over 4 1/3 frames.
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