Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies (Dodgers won regular season series 4-3)

The Los Angeles Dodgers took care of the St. Louis Cardinals in three games, while the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Colorado Rockies in four games.

Game one of the National League Championship Series takes place on Thursday in Los Angeles. Last year, these two teams hooked up in the NLCS, with the Phillies coming out on top.

Cole Hamels, who lost to the Rockies in game two of the divisional round, will take the mound for Philadelphia in game one. He went five innings, giving up four runs on seven hits. Former Phillies pitcher Randy Wolf will get the start for the Dodgers. He got a no-decision in game one against the Cardinals, giving up two runs on six hits and five walks in 3.2 innings of work.

It is not clear who will start in game two for either team yet, but if the Dodgers follow their rotation from their divisional series, it would be Clayton Kershaw. Game three would be another former Philadelphia pitcher, Vincente Padilla.

If Los Angeles goes with four starters, the fourth might be Chad Billingsley, who made 32 starts this year for the Dodgers and had a 12-11 record with a 4.04 ERA.

The Dodgers pitching staff against the Cardinals combined to have a 2.00 ERA in the three games. Jonathan Broxton appeared in all three games, going 3.2 innings and allowing one run. George Sherrill also made relief appearances in all three of the games and went 2.1 innings allowing one run.

Philadelphia might not be able to go with Cliff Lee in game two because he would be pitching on three days rest after starting Monday in game four against the Rockies. Lee pitched 16.1 innings in his two starts, only allowing two earned runs and 11 hits.

If he can’t go, the Phillies will either throw Pedro Martinez, Joe Blanton or J.A. Happ. Martinez did not make an appearance in any of the four games against Colorado and Blanton made two relief appearances.

Blanton gave up two runs in 3.2 innings out of the bullpen. Happ made one relief appearance, in game two, which saw him get hit on the knee with a comebacker and leave after his first batter. He then got the start in game three where he pitched three innings, giving up three runs on six hits.

The Phillies got two saves out of Brad Lidge in games three and four to put down the Rockies. They also will rely heavily on Ryan Madson and Scott Eyre out of the bullpen late in the game. They both made three appearances against the Rockies.

Chase Utley (.429), Ryan Howard (.375), Jayson Werth (.357), Shane Victorino (.353), Raul Ibanez (.308), and Carlos Ruiz (.308) all hit above .300 in the four games against the Rockies. Howard led Philadelphia in the series with six RBI’s and Werth led the team with two home runs.

Something will have to give when this hot unit of hitters faces the Dodgers staff’s low ERA.

On the other side of things, the Dodgers only had three players hit above .300 in their three-game series against the Cardinals. They were Andre Ethier (.500), Rafael Furcal (.500), and Manny Ramirez (.308). Ethier led the team with three RBI’s and two home runs.

I give the edge to the Dodgers as far as pitching but the Phillies lineup can explode at any moment and can act as the equalizer, just ask Huston Street.

Prediction: Phillies in six. Too much offense for the Phillies and the Dodgers bats won’t be able to keep up in the long haul. The Phillies repeat as National League Champs and look to be the first team to win back-to-back World Series titles since the Yankees won three straight from 1998-2000.