Los Angeles, CA -- (Sports Network) - It took 15 years, but the Phillies are back in the World Series and are now poised to break Philadelphia's 25-year major sports championship drought.

Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a homer and Cole Hamels was in complete control on the mound, as the Phillies shut down the Dodgers, 5-1, finishing off Los Angeles in five games in the National League Championship Series.

The Phillies took advantage of three errors from shortstop Rafael Furcal in the fifth inning, including two on one play, to clinch their first NL pennant since 1993, the year they lost to Toronto in the Fall Classic.

Brad Lidge gave up a single to James Loney to start the bottom of the ninth, but Casey Blake flied out to center, and then Matt Kemp hit a ball to the wall that was caught by Shane Victorino in center. Catcher Carlos Ruiz then caught Nomar Garciaparra's foul pop on the third base side, and the Phillies mobbed the field in celebration.

"It's great. It's an opportunity you dream of, you work all year long for," said Victorino. "We have one step to go. We're happy to be here. We're happy to be NL champs and we have one more step to go."

Philadelphia made a dramatic comeback to win, 7-5, in Game 4 behind two-run homers in the eighth inning from Victorino and Matt Stairs. Two nights later, Hamels (3-0) frustrated the Los Angeles bats, except for Manny Ramirez's homer in the sixth, a post-season record 28th of his career. The lefty, making his first-ever playoff road start, allowed five hits, with three walks and had five strikeouts over seven innings. Hamels, who also was the Game 1 winner, was named the NLCS MVP.

"We wanted it so much and we played so hard," said Hamels. "We have the energy and the excitement to go all the way."

Ryan Howard, who came into the game hitting .185 in the 2008 postseason, had three hits, an RBI and scored once for the Phillies, who captured their sixth NL pennant.

There hasn't been a title in the four major sports (NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA) in the City of Brotherly Love since 1983 when the 76ers beat the Los Angeles Lakers for the championship.

The Tampa Bay Rays or Boston Red Sox stand in the way of the Phillies accomplishing that goal. The surprising Rays hold a 3-1 lead in the AL Championship Series, with Game 5 set for Thursday night in Boston. The winner of that best-of-seven series will have home-field advantage for the World Series, which starts next Wednesday.

"This is for the city of Philadelphia, and you know we've got one more step," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. "This is the third step. We've got one more big step and then we're going to take a grand parade."

The trip to the World Series comes less than week after Manuel's mother passed away.

"I guarantee you my mom's watching right now," said Manuel.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre yanked Chad Billingsley (1-2) with two outs in the third inning and the bases loaded after the righty gave up four hits, four walks and three runs.

It also may have been the end of Ramirez's time with the Dodgers. The 2004 World Series MVP, who was acquired at the trade deadline from Boston, is due to be a free agent this winter.

"We played great, but they played better," said Ramirez. "The better team always wins. They got the big hits. You make mistakes and you pay for it."

It was a much different result for the Dodgers and Torre in his first year as skipper of the team, when compared to their NLDS three-game sweep of the Cubs.

"This has been an up-and-down year," said Torre. "I think they learned a lot. I think they learned to come together. But these kids didn't know what inning it was, they didn't know what score it was. They just kept fighting until someone told them it was over."

Rollins homered on the eighth pitch of the game, taking a 3-2 offering over the wall in right-center field. It was much like the NLDS-clinching victory over Milwaukee, a game in which Rollins led off with a homer off Jeff Suppan.

"Any time you can get a home run early it sets the tone and Jimmy did that," said Hamels. "I was able to locate my fastball and my change-up worked effectively"

The Dodgers put two men on base in the second, but Blake DeWitt's double-play grounder killed the rally, and the Phillies tacked on two more runs in the third. Rollins drew a one-out walk and stole second before Chase Utley walked with two outs. Howard then lined a ball sharply into right field, beyond a diving Loney at first base for a 2-0 margin. Pat Burrell followed with an RBI single to right-center field.

Billingsley's wild pitch and an intentional walk to Victorino loaded the bases, but Chan Ho Park then got Pedro Feliz to ground out with the bases full.

Hamels retired the side in order in the third and fourth, and the Dodgers gift-wrapped two more runs to the Phillies in the following inning. With Greg Maddux on the hill, Utley reached first on a fielder's choice, and Howard singled. Burrell then hit a potential double-play grounder to shortstop, but the ball bounced off Furcal's glove and then he accidentally kicked it into left field. Furcal's throw home then got by catcher Russell Martin, scoring Utley.

Victorino was intentionally walked, and after Feliz struck out, Ruiz hit a grounder to Furcal, but the throw to first one-hopped past Loney, plating Howard.

Hamels grounded out with the bases full to end the fifth, but he was in command nearly the entire night, except for the ball Ramirez hit over the wall in right field with two outs in the sixth.

Hamels walked Kemp and Garciaparra with two outs in the seventh, but caught an angry Jeff Kent looking at a called third strike to get out of trouble.

Ryan Madson gave up a harmless two-out single to Ramirez in the eighth, but Martin then grounded out to first base.

Game Notes:

Wednesday marked the anniversary of Kirk Gibson's amazing game-winning home run off Dennis Eckersley in the opener of the 1988 World Series, the year the Dodgers beat Oakland for the championship...Maddux, a four-time Cy Young Award winner, started Game 6 of the 1993 NLCS for the Atlanta Braves when they lost at Philadelphia in the clinching game...The Phillies are 13-4 in their last 17 LCS games after going 3-11 in their first 14 such contests...Hamels is 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA in the postseason...The Dodgers went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base...The Phillies' lone World Series championship is in 1980 when they beat the Kansas City Royals in six games...Rollins also homered to lead off Game 2 of the 2007 Division Series vs. Colorado. He is the first player to hit three career leadoff home runs in the postseason...Burrell has gone 9-for-22 in his last six games since going 0-for-8 in the first three games against Milwaukee...Furcal became the first player in NLCS history to be charged with three errors in one inning and in one game...Ramirez extended his record to nine straight games with an RBI in a LCS game. Ramirez collected eight hits in this years NLCS, which tied a Dodgers record for most hits in a NLCS. Bill Madlock (1985) and Steve Sax (1988) also had eight hits in a single series...The Dodgers grounded into seven double plays in the series.