Shane Victorino

Dodgers pitcher Randy Wolf took the mound against the Philadelphia Phillies with nine no-decisions in his last dozen starts. But by the time Wolf left the game Sunday, there was little doubt his record would change this time -- for the worse. The veteran left-hander was roughed up by home runs from Carlos Ruiz and Shane Victorino as the Phillies cruised past the Dodgers, 7-2, in front of 42,288 at Dodger Stadium. The loss gave the Dodgers (39-20) a split in the teams' four-game series and pared the Dodgers' lead in the National League West to eight games over the San Francisco Giants, who won Sunday.

Josh Lindblom, traveling man. Lindblom, the hard-throwing and well-liked right-handed reliever, is packing again. Traded by the Dodgers to the Phillies for Shane Victorino at the July 31 trading deadline, Lindblom was moved again Saturday. The Phillies traded him to the Texas Rangers for Michael Young, whom they plan to play at third base. Hmm, who else do we know who could use a third baseman? The Phillies wanted Lindblom as a set-up man, but he had mixed results (4.63 earned-run average, 1.54 WHIP in 26 games)

Five Philadelphia Phillies — second baseman Chase Utley , shortstop Jimmy Rollins , third baseman Placido Polanco , center fielder Shane Victorino and right fielder Jayson Werth — are currently in line to start the July 13 All-Star game at Angel Stadium. Utley, with 687,724 votes, is the league's leading vote-getter in the first announced balloting. The Phillies had three players represented in the NL starting lineup at last year's All-Star game. Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard and catcher Carlos Ruiz are currently in second place at their respective positions.

Ha, ha, ha. Hear that? They're laughing at you. Yeah, that's right, they're laughing at you, Dodgers fan. Lapping it up. Through an air of spilled Napa wine, garlic fries and burning buses, tears are rolling down their little Rice-A-Roni cheeks. The Giants are the World Series champions again. That's twice in the last three years. All while the Dodgers haven't won a World Series since Reagan called the White House home and gas was a buck a gallon. The Dodgers committed an additional quarter of a billion dollars during the season by bringing in big names Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Shane Victorino.

A team with virtually no offense is headed to the World Series. Not a single player on the San Francisco Giants hit 30 home runs this year. Not a single player drove in 90 runs. But on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park, the Giants were crowned the champions of the National League, beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2, to win the best-of-seven championship series, 4-2. When the Giants last reached the World Series eight years ago, they did so with the likes of Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent in their lineup.

Ryan Howard took measures to protect his eyes, donning a pair of goggles in the Philadelphia clubhouse. He never imagined he would have to worry about his underwear. But there was Pedro Martinez , pouring beer on a pair of the slugger's shorts that dangled from a coat hanger Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park. "I don't think I've ever played on a team that's been so fun," Howard said after the Phillies eliminated the Dodgers from the National League Championship Series with a 10-4 victory in Game 5. "It's one of the funnest teams I've played on."

The Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies open the National League Championship Series tonight at Dodger Stadium, a rematch of last year's NLCS. Here's a glance at how the teams stack up: Offense The Dodgers finished the regular season tied with the New York Mets with the NL's best team batting average, .270, while the Phillies tied for eighth, .258, with the lowly Washington Nationals. But with Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez in their lineup, the Phillies can still overpower a pitching staff in short order, which is why they led the league in runs scored (820)

He has gone from August castoff to October conqueror. At this rate, Vicente Padilla could start the World Series opener should the Dodgers make it that far. All the veteran right-hander has done in two postseason outings is hold two potent lineups to one run in 14 1/3 innings, the latest command performance coming Friday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. Padilla limited the Philadelphia Phillies to one run in 7 1/3 innings in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, keeping the team that led the league in home runs and runs scored within striking distance until the Dodgers could rally for two late runs and a 2-1 victory.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Dodgers can't score. They can't hit for power. Their closer can't find the strike zone. And, not undeservedly, they are a .500 team. But, hey, they're still three games out of first place in the National League West. They can't excuse themselves from this pennant race no matter how hard they try, and they tried awfully hard Sunday night. So hard, in fact, that Manager Joe Torre told his players to stay away from the ballpark as long as possible tonight.

Roy Halladay pitched a perfect game in May. He pitched a no-hitter in his postseason debut. But Brad Lidge said that Halladay's performance in a 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night that extended the Philadelphia Phillies' season ranked among his greatest pitching achievements. By itself, Halladay's line in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series wasn't particularly remarkable. He pitched six innings, giving up two runs and six hits. But from the second inning on, Halladay pitched with a mild groin pull.