When people predicted that the National League’s best offensive team might threaten the two-time NL defending champions, they were sorely wrong. The Phillies swept the Reds in what turned out to be a pushover for a divisional series, sweeping Cincinnati in three straight and celebrating with champagne in the locker room afterwards. While this kind of celebration isn’t that common after winning a divisional series, it’s also not common to throw two complete games, including a no hitter.

Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels made the Reds look minor league-ish in games 1 and 3, while Roy Oswalt struggled with control in Game 2, but when you have a staff with three aces, you can afford a game like Oswalt had. The Phillies will also have an opportunity to reset their rotation for the NLCS starting later this week, although the amount of rest may not exactly do wonders for the position players who are used to playing every day.

The Reds as a team finished first in batting average, home runs and RBI during the regular season. In three games against Philadelphia, they were no-hit in game 1, committed four errors en route to five unearned runs in game 2 and then managed only five hits during a game 3 shut out. When you hear people say that good pitching beats good hitting and that it wins postseason games, this is exactly what they are talking about.

The Phillies may fast be becoming the next baseball dynasty. If they can make it to the World Series, it will be their third in a row and become the first National League to do so since the 1942-44 St. Louis Cardinals, who won two and lost one. If they face the Yankees, it will be the first World Series rematch since the Yankees and Dodgers faced each other two years in a row in 1977 and 1978. Like last season, the Yankees won both of those championships. But before the Phillies start thinking about the World Series, they’ll have to get four more victories in the NLCS.