Major League Baseball

PHILLIES RETURN TO WORLD SERIES: Powered by Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and all those other big bats, the Philadelphia Phillies are headed back to the World Series.

Werth hit two home runs, Shane Victorino and Pedro Feliz also connected and the defending champions beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-4 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to win their second straight NL pennant.

Brad Lidge closed it out and the Phillies became the first team to reach consecutive World Series since the New York Yankees in 2000-01.

Now, Jimmy Rollins and crew wait for their next opponent. They'll go for their third World Series title beginning next Wednesday night at New York or Los Angeles. The Yankees lead the Angels 3-1 in the ALCS, which resumes tonight at Angel Stadium.

Philadelphia overcame another shaky outing by 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP Cole Hamels.

Meanwhile, slugger Manny Ramirez, manager Joe Torre and the rest of the Dodgers go home after leading the NL with 95 wins in the regular season and sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the division series.

Los Angeles closed to 9-4 in the eighth, but Ryan Madson escaped a bases-loaded jam by striking out Russell Martin and retiring Casey Blake on a grounder to shortstop.

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 Yankees were the last team to win consecutive titles when they captured three in a row from 1998-2000.

Andre Ethier, James Loney and pinch-hitter Orlando Hudson hit solo homers for the Dodgers, who also lost to the Phillies in five games in last year's NLCS.

CUBS HIRE HITTING COACH: The Cubs have hired Rudy Jaramillo as their hitting coach, hoping he can resurrect an offense that struggled during a disappointing 2009 season.

Jaramillo, who spent 15 years as the hitting coach of the Texas Rangers, replaces Von Joshua. Joshua was removed after the season and offered a job in Triple-A, where he'd worked previously.

The Cubs finished the season batting .255.

Jaramillo turned down a one-year deal from the Rangers last week, ending a long run during which the Rangers were among the most feared lineups in baseball.

Pro hockey

LATE GOALS LIFT CANUCKS PAST HAWKS: Michael Grabner scored the tying goal with 7:44 to play and Mikael Samuelsson followed with the winner 3:02 later Wednesday night as the Vancouver Canucks rallied for their first road victory of the season, 3-2 over the Blackhawks at the United Center.

The Canucks hadn't won away from Vancouver since beating Chicago in Game 3 of the teams' second-round playoff series last May.

Vancouver was the first team to outshoot the Blackhawks this season.

Antti Niemi, starting in place of struggling Chicago goalie Cristobal Huet, was sensational most of the night and finished with 28 saves but couldn't survive some sloppy play in front of him late.

Pro football

BEARS LOSE ANOTHER LB: Bears strongside linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa needs season-ending surgery to repair ligament damage in his right knee.

He was carted from the sideline during last week's 21-14 loss at Atlanta after injuring the knee for the second time this season. He had just returned after tearing the posterior cruciate ligament in the season opener at Green Bay. The Bears have already lost star middle linebacker Brian Urlacher for the season with a dislocated wrist and Hunter Hillenmeyer has been out since Week 3 with a rib injury but hopes to play this Sunday.

BENSON ACCUSES BEARS: Cedric Benson believes the Bears did all they could to prevent him from signing with another team.

Released in June 2008 after two alcohol-related arrests, Benson will come face to face with his former team when the Cincinnati Bengals host the Bears on Sunday. Although he insisted he's not out for revenge and won't try to send a message, Benson clearly has some bad feelings for the Bears.

"I heard all the rumors that were said coming out of Chicago," Benson said. "Even the Bengals told me all the things, that they would call and inquire about me and get nothing but negative things. ... I'm sure that contributed largely to me not getting picked up right away."

Bears coach Lovie Smith insisted, "He was not blackballed by anyone in our organization."

SANDERS MIGHT MAKE 2009 DEBUT: Colts safety Bob Sanders is on track to make his season debut Sunday at St. Louis.

The 2007 NFL defensive player of the year is expected to participate in most of Indianapolis' workouts this week. Colts coach Jim Caldwell said Wednesday the team hopes he can play against the Rams but the decision will be made later this week.

Sanders missed all of training camp after having surgery on his right knee.

Pro basketball

HUNTER HELPS KNICKS WIN: West Side grad Chris Hunter scored four points in nine minutes as the New York Knicks completed a preseason sweep of the New Jersey Nets with a 94-92 win.

"We played extremely well in the first half I thought, I was really pleased," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "And then halfway through the third for whatever reason, some guys thought that they could just turn it off and it's too bad. And then some of the rookies, Toney Douglas and Chris Hunter and those guys, they played hard and won the game."

Men's soccer

SHIVELY SPARKS VU: Steve Shively scored both goals and Ryan Schwarz made two saves as Valparaiso University (7-6-1) blanked IPFW 2-0 Wednesday in Fort Wayne. Ken Perkins and Stefan Antonjevic assisted on Shively's tallies, which both came in the second half. The Mastodons outshot the Crusaders 13-12.

Around the horn

Rocker John Mellencamp, soprano Sylvia McNair and CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz will headline a tribute to former NCAA president Myles Brand. The NCAA says the Oct. 28 tribute at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis will chronicle Brand's career and achievements. It will come six weeks after his Sept. 16 death at age 67 from pancreatic cancer. ... The Connecticut and West Virginia football teams will both wear helmet stickers on Saturday in memory of UConn cornerback Jasper Howard, who was stabbed to death just hours after the Huskies' 38-25 win over Louisville last week. ... The top swimmers from Britain, Germany and Italy will take on a team of Americans in the biannual Duel in the Pool on Dec. 18-19 in Manchester, England.