Powered by Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and all those other big bats, the Philadelphia Phillies are headed back to the World Series.They defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-4 to win their second straight NL pennant.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP)—With Jered Weaver picking up right where John Lackey left off for the Los Angeles Angels, not even Josh Beckett could keep the Boston Red Sox from the brink of playoff elimination. Weaver yielded two hits while dominating Boston into the eighth inning, and Maicer Izturis drove home the tiebreaking run in Los Angeles’ 4-1 victory over the Red Sox, extending the Angels’ first-round lead to 2-0.

Cole Hamels isn’t going to breeze through this postseason. Yorvit Torrealba hit a two-run homer, Aaron Cook pitched effectively into the sixth inning and the Colorado Rockies beat Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 Thursday to even their NL playoff series at a game apiece.

All that Matt Holliday needed to do was make the catch, and the Cardinals would have tied the series. Instead, his error gave Los Angeles a second chance, and St. Louis wound up on the brink of elimination.

John Lackey pitched into the eighth inning of his first postseason victory since 2002, and Tori Hunter’s three-run homer in the fifth inning sent the Angels to a 5-0 victory over their longtime playoff nemesis in their first-round opener.

The news made nostalgia’s juices flow. This is, readers have guessed, another boomer moment. Major League Baseball recently designated Topps the exclusive producer of trading cards. Card-collecting, stories explained, is not what it used to be. The Topps contract is an attempt to restore the glory days, when towheads saved up their allowances to buy packs with not only cards but sticks of gum sweeter than sugar. A mouthful of cavities identified an avid collector.

Like many young baseball players, 13-year-old Ryland Ansell hopes to one day play professionally. Unlike many young players, Ansell has competed on the perfectly manicured playing surface of a big-league field. Nor did he merely compete there. He excelled. Ansell traveled from his home in Richmond to Nationals Park in Washington on June 20 to participate in the championship round of Major League Baseball’s Pitch, Hit and Run program—a competition that tests some of the most fundamental individual skills of developing players.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig wants to keep players on drug suspensions from going to the minor leagues before they return. Manny Ramirez drew sellout crowds last month in the minors when he played two games at Triple-A Albuquerque and three at Class-A Inland Empire on his rehabilitation assignment before his return to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 3.

Nick Adenhart was one of three people killed in the hit-and-run crash early today after pitching in a loss against the Oakland Athletics.

SAN FRANCISCO—Barry Bonds’ trainer Greg Anderson has told a judge he will refuse to testify at the slugger’s perjury trial. Anderson said he will keep silent at a hearing today ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston, who wanted to determine Anderson’s intentions without a jury present. Bonds’ trial is scheduled to begin Monday.