The opener was your standard 3-1 win, with NL Cy Young winner Steve Carlton starting at home in front of 65,277 hungry Phillies fans. That is worth noting, because nothing was routine after that; the next four games each went to extra innings.

• 1980 postseason history

Nolan Ryan struck out 14 overall batters in his two NLCS starts against the Phillies, including eight in Game 5, and he took the mound with a 5-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning. The sellout crowd was on the verge of pandemonium. The Phillies loaded the bases with three immediate singles, and after Pete Rose walked in a run, Ryan was replaced by Joe Sambito. He traded another run for a Keith Moreland groundout to second, and it was now 5-4. Game 1 starter Ken Forsch came on and struck out the great Mike Schmidt on three pitches, but pinch-hitter Del Unser tied it by singling in Greg Gross, and Manny Trillo -- the series MVP -- gave the Phillies a 7-5 lead with a subsequent two-run triple.

Phillies closer Tug McGraw entered in the bottom of the eighth, looking for a two-inning save. With two out, Rafael Landestoy and Jose Cruz delivered back-to-back RBI singles to tie it again at 7. It stayed that way into extra innings, and in the top of the 10th, Unser struck again, this time a double to right. He scored with two out on Garry Maddox's double, and Dick Ruthven closed out a 1-2-3 bottom half for the Phillies to send them on to the World Series.

Path to the NLCS: Philadelphia (91-71) won the NL East by one game; Houston (93-70) won the NL West by one game

Managers: Dallas Green, PHI; Bill Virdon, HOU

MVP: Manny Trillo