Phillies complete sweep of Reds, 2-0

CINCINNATI - Cole Hamels completed what Roy Halladay started, putting the Philadelphia Phillies back in the National League Championship Series for the third straight season.

Hamels struck out nine in a five-hitter and Chase Utley homered as the Phillies beat the Reds, 2-0, in NLDS Game 3 last night to finish off the franchise's first playoff sweep. Philadelphia, trying to become the first NL team in 66 years to win three straight pennants, will host the Giants or Braves in the NLCS opener Saturday.

The Reds committed six errors in the last two games of the series after finishing second in the NL with a club-record .988 fielding percentage in the regular season. The NL's top offense had only 11 hits in three games - the fewest for a team in a postseason series, according to STATS LLC. The previous low was 13 by Texas against the Yankees in 1998.

Utley connected against Johnny Cueto in the fifth, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead. It was his 10th career postseason homer, moving him into first on the club's career list. Umpires reviewed Utley's drive to right-center to see if a fan interfered with the ball, but the call was quickly upheld.

The Reds never regained their footing after Halladay tossed the second no-hitter in postseason history in the series opener. The surprising NL Central winners led 4-0 in Game 2 but quickly fell apart, committing four errors in a gut-wrenching 7-4 loss that put them on the brink of elimination. Hamels took it from there.

The lefthander allowed only two runners to reach second and none of the Reds got to third. The 2008 World Series MVP, quite the luxury to have as a No. 3 starter in the postseason, is 7-0 in eight career starts against the Reds. He is 6-3 in 11 postseason outings.