They’re baaackkkk. The Philadelphia Phillies are returning to the Fall Classic for the second straight year after a convincing 10-4 win over the Dodgers in game 5 of the NLCS to win the series 4-1. The series truly belonged to Philadelphia who seemingly could do no wrong in advancing to the 2009 World Series.

Scoring came early and often as each team scored in the first two innings. Andre Ethier got the Dodgers on the board with a solo homerun in the top of the 1st off Cole Hamels, but the Phillies got that run back, and then some in the bottom of the inning. After Vicente Padilla got the first two outs, he walked lefties Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, leading to an opposite field 3-run homerun from righty Jayson Werth. The ball was flying all over Citizens Bank Ballpark with leadoff 2nd homeruns from Dodgers 1B James Loney and Phillies 3B Pedro Feliz. The Phils led 4-2 after two innings.

Back to the World Series!

The bottom of the 4th spelled more doom for the Dodgers and Padilla especially. After a leadoff single by Werth, Raul Ibanez doubled him in ending the night for Padilla. The choice to throw Padilla came due to his terrific outing in the NLDS and in game 2 of this series. Although, I didn’t agree with the decision to start Padilla going into the game. The way I saw it was that Clayton Kershaw (the game 1 starter) would be starting game 6, so why not just give Padilla the start next game on full rest?? I really don’t get it, and the Dodgers paid for it. After Ramon Troncoso got a couple outs, George Sherrill came into the game and hit Shane Victorino on a full count with the bases loaded. Sherrill has been absolutely pathetic in this series for someone who was considered a good catch at the trade deadline. So what will the lasting image of Padilla be from this postseason? Two terrific starts or one clunker. Unfortunately for Padilla, it will be the clunker, especially since it is the series clincher for Philly. Through four innings, the Phils led 6-2 and never looked back.

Cole Hamels was not his usual postseason self, but he was good enough to maintain the lead in the game for the Phillies. After an Orlando Hudson line drive homer and a double by Rafael Furcal with one out in the 5th, Charlie Manuel took Hamels out before he could do any more damage. JA Happ relieved Hamels, giving up a walk and getting a flyout. Chad Durbin came into the game to face Manny Ramirez and he was able to get him to jam a weak grounder back to him to end the inning, maintaining a 6-3 Phillies edge.

The Phillies picked up some more runs, primarily from two more homeruns. Shane Victorino hit a 2-run bomb to left field in the bottom of the 6th and Jayson Werth added his second homer of the game with a solo shot in the 7th. Philadelphia has now scored 55 runs in 9 postseason games which is a pretty incredible amount. Their offense can keep them in any game as they showed with their four homeruns in this game alone.

Brad Lidge came in for a 1-2-3 top of the 9th inning to clinch it for the Phillies; the final out came on a flyball to CF Shane Victorino. It seems that Lidge is back where he was last year from his postseason stats, but he hasn’t many high pressure moments in the last few weeks. I’m itching to see how he does in the World Series if he has any big spots. The bullpen, which is supposed to be their weak spot, gave up only one run 4 2/3 innings on the night.

NLCS MVP Ryan Howard

The Phillies advance to the World Series for the 7th time in their history and for the second straight year. They will look to defend their 2008 title starting on Wednesday in either New York or Los Angeles. It looks like it will be the Yankees since they hold a commanding lead in the series, which would be a big time east coast battle. The least I could hope for is an incredible series. NLCS MVP Ryan Howard will look to continue his incredible playoff hot streak against either team with Cliff Lee presumably starting game 1.