LOS ANGELES – It wasn’t the Mets’ worst nightmare, but it was the next closest thing. And the worst could be yet to come.
The resilient Phillies, otherwise known as the Mets’ NL East nemesis, are headed to the World Series for the first time since 1993 after Joe Torre’s Dodgers all but laid down in a 5-1 loss in Game 5 of the NLCS here last night.
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Though the Phillies lived up to their billing as the better team in this series, the bumbling Dodgers gave the Phils a huge assist in the clincher with three errors in the same inning by shortstop Rafael Furcal and no offense whatsoever outside of Manny Ramirez.
The Phillies also are owners of the NL pennant for the sixth time in franchise history because of ace Cole Hamels, who was practically the difference in his first career NLCS. The lefty dominated L.A. for the second time in this series, giving up just a Ramirez solo homer in seven strong innings.
Hamels was an easy choice for NLCS MVP after going 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA and improving to 3-0 in the postseason.
“What can you say about the guy? Cole was huge,” shortstop Jimmy Rollins said amid fountains of flowing champagne in the Phillies’ giddy clubhouse. “We wouldn’t be here without him.”
Though Furcal was the biggest goat with three fifth-inning errors that led to two Phillies runs, he had plenty of company in putting Philadelphia in line for its first major pro sports championship in 25 years.
There was a palpable sense of resignation in the air at partially empty Dodger Stadium as the game began, and it only heightened when Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley served up a leadoff homer to Rollins.
Rollins’ shot to right-center served as an omen for the Dodgers as the Phillies roughed up Billingsley for the second time in the NLCS. Billingsley lasted just 22/3 innings, giving up three runs on four hits and four walks to give him an 18.00 ERA for the series.
“That team lives by the homer and dies by the homer, and they got us this time,” Torre said of the Phillies. “We sort of kept skidding and kept spinning our wheels.”
Even with Billingsley’s latest face-plant, the Phillies were limited to a 3-0 lead until the Furcal came unglued in a mistake-filled fifth inning that pretty much summed up the Dodgers’ (lack of) focus.
Furcal’s nightmare began with one out, when he booted a routine grounder by Pat Burrell, and ended with a wild throw that enabled Howard to scoot home with the Phillies’ fifth run.
The run by Howard was just part of a boffo night for the Phillies’ first baseman and likely NL MVP. Howard went into Game 5 hitting just .188 in the series but went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run.
Rollins, who had been mired in an even bigger NLCS slump than Howard, also finally came through for the Phillies in this series with the leadoff homer and two runs.
“We knew those two guys would come around,” right fielder Jayson Werth said. “It was just a matter of time. The good thing was that it almost didn’t matter, because there were so many other guys to pick up the slack. We’re just a solid team.”
A solid team led by a tenacious staff ace. Even when Hamels ran into a bit of trouble in the sixth and seventh, he fought his way out of it by getting called third strikes on Russell Martin and Jeff Kent to end the respective innings.
As a result, the agony the Mets felt from their second consecutive September collapse is now heightened by the sight of their division arch-rival headed to the World Series next week against the Red Sox or, more likely, the upstart Rays.
In a word: Ouch.
bhubbuch@nypost.com