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Werth, Feliz, Victorino put Phillies up in Game 5
2009-10-21
PHILADELPHIA - Jayson Werth, Pedro Feliz and Shane Victorino homered to help the Philadelphia Phillies, closing in on another pennant, build an 8-3 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers after six innings Wednesday night in Game 5 of the NL championship series. With his team needing one win to reach the World Series for the second consecutive season, Phillies starter Cole Hamels allowed solo homers to Andre Ethier, James Loney and pinch-hitter Orlando Hudson before he was chased in the fifth. Philadelphia held a 3-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series. The Dodgers were looking to send it back to Los Angeles for Game 6. After beating Tampa Bay in last year's World Series, the Phillies are trying to become the first repeat champions from the NL since the Cincinnati Reds in 1975-76. The New York Yankees were the last team to win consecutive titles when they captured three in a row from 1998-2000. Hamels won Game 5 of last year's NLCS against the Dodgers, earning series MVP honors. But he was gone after just 4 1-3 innings in this one. Dodgers starter Vicente Padilla lasted only three innings and allowed six runs. Raul Ibanez had an RBI double and Victorino was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth for a 6-2 Phillies lead. J.A. Happ relieved Hamels in the fifth and lasted two batters before Chad Durbin got the call with two on and two outs. Durbin got Manny Ramirez to check his swing and hit a roller back to him and end the threat. Ramirez fouled a pitch off his left shin on the second pitch and appeared in some pain as he jogged down the line. Victorino hit a two-run shot in the sixth that made it 8-3 as the crowd bellowed "Beat L.A.!" Victorino's homer was the sixth of the game, one shy of the postseason record. Padilla put the Dodgers in an early hole. The ex-Phillie issued two-out walks to Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the first inning. Werth drove one the opposite way to right for his fourth home run of the postseason and a 3-1 lead. Then he came out for a curtain call. Hamels served up a two-out homer to Ethier in the first and gave a run right back to the Dodgers in the second when Loney hit a shot to right. The first four home runs of the game all landed in the right-field seats. Feliz made it 4-2 when he went deep off Padilla and sent the crowd into a frenzy on a gorgeous, 63-degree night. Hamels became a first-time father this postseason when his wife, a former "Survivor" contestant, gave birth to their son, Caleb. The left-hander, who hasn't been able to return to his dominant form of the 2008 playoffs, threw 94 pitches in his brief outing. Utley tied a postseason record by reaching base in 25 straight games. Utley went 0 for 4 in his first playoff game in 2007. He's since reached base safely via a hit or walk in every postseason game he's played. Baltimore's Boog Powell set the record of 25 straight games from 1966-71. On the 29th anniversary of the Phillies winning their first World Series title, 1980 manager Dallas Green tossed the first pitch to Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel. Green shook hands with Larry Bowa, his shortstop on the '80 Phils and now a Dodgers coach, and Dodgers manager Joe Torre. Hamels warmed up to the sights and sounds of fireworks and rally towels and thunderous AC/DC chords that had the Phillies fans feeling as though this was their night to party. Officials in Philadelphia removed trash cans and even greased up utility poles in anticipation of revelry if the Phillies clinch. City workers were coating poles, trees and bus stop shelters with slippery goo to discourage celebrating fans from climbing them. The city also removed new solar-powered trash cans from the street and asked publishers to remove unsecured newspaper boxes. After the World Series last fall, fans in South Philly toppled a traffic pole and set off firecrackers. In Center City, a luggage store was looted, planters and taxicabs were damaged and some small fires were set.
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