Phillies get to defend their crown

They didn't even pack their bags, the thought of an all-night cross-country flight representing a negative the Philadelphia Phillies didn't care to consider. Their trump card, their ace left-hander, was stashed in reserve, ready to be deployed if need be -- but they preferred to save him for the next series, the big one. So the Phillies played, managed and carried themselves Wednesday night as if they, and not the Los Angeles Dodgers, were the ones whose season was on the verge of expiring.

And at the end of a thorough, definitive 10-4 beat-down of the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, the Phillies, resolute and resurgent, are back in a familiar spot -- champions of their league, conquerors of another humbled opponent, one entrant in next week's World Series.

"It's about to be bedlam in here," said a be-goggled Ryan Howard, the Phillies' first baseman and the series MVP, wading through a champagne-soaked home clubhouse. "Bedlam!"

Read more at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/22/AR2009102200122.html