Phils Werth-y champs Outfielder's two homers give Philadelphia second NL crown in a row

PHILADELPHIA -- One-hundred and seventy-one games into the baseball season, the Philadelphia Phillies still are alive in their bid to do something no National League team has done in 33 years.
The Phils earned a second consecutive NL pennant last night with a 10-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, putting themselves in position to win back-to-back World Series, a feat last accomplished by an NL club in 1975 and 1976 by Cincinnati's legendary Big Red Machine.
"I could get used to this," Phils manager Charlie Manuel said as he held up the Warren Giles Trophy for the second year in a row.
While Philadelphia moves on to face the survivor of the LA Angels/New York Yankees AL Championship Series (Yankees lead 3-1 with Game 5 tonight), the Dodgers are left to ponder a second consecutive five-game NLCS elimination at the hands of the Phils, who outscored them 35-16 in the five games.
"We set our goals three years ago," said Jimmy Rollins, one of the clubhouse leaders. "But it's only just words until you can make it happen. We're making it happen right now.
"We had ability, but we lacked confidence. We had to challenge ourselves but by doing so, we are now going to our second World Series."
Last night, the Phils laid claim to the pennant with the long ball. Jayson Werth set the tone with a three-run blast in the first inning, his first of two. Pedro Feliz added a solo shot and Shane Victorino launched a majestic two-run shot in the sixth inning to counter three solo homers by Dodgers Andre Ethier, James Loney and pinch-hitter Orlando Hudson.
The only fly in the ointment this night for the Phillies was the failure of lefthander Cole Hamels, the MVP of both the NLCS and World Series a year ago, to get out of the fifth inning. It was another example of the inconsistency that has plagued the Phils ace this post-season.
In this year's playoffs, Hamels has made three starts and allowed 11 earned runs in 142/3 innings for a 6.75 ERA. On the way to the World Series last year, Hamels made five starts, pitched 35 innings and had an ERA of 1.80.
Howard named MVP
Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard, who hit .333 with two homers and eight RBIs, was named MVP of the NLCS.
Howard wasn't interested in reflecting on his team's accomplishments so far.
"We have one more step to go," he said.
The World Series is scheduled to start next Wednesday at the home park of the American League champion.
Ethier gave the Dodgers early hope of extending the series when he silenced the raucous Phillies faithful by belting a Hamels fastball into the right-field seats in the top of the first inning.
Those hopes took a nosedive in the bottom of the inning when, after two were out, Dodger starter Vicente Padilla suddenly lost the strike zone. In one 12-pitch sequence, he threw 11 balls. With Chase Utley and Howard on base with walks, Werth crashed his second home run of the series to give Philadelphia a 3-1 lead, a lead they never gave up.
After Loney and Feliz traded homers in the second, the Phils scored two more in the fourth, chasing Padilla and the rout was on.
The Dodgers tried to rally in the eighth, but Philly reliever Ryan Madson squashed it by getting three consecutive outs with the bases loaded.
Source winnipegsun.com