MLB: LA Dodgers 5, St . Louis 1

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Vicente Padilla pitched seven shutout innings Saturday to help the LA Dodgers beat St . Louis 5-1 and advance to the NL Championship Series.

Padilla (1-0), picked up off waivers from Texas earlier in the season, allowed four hits and a walk for the Dodgers, who swept the best-of-five series, 3-0, and have now won six straight Division Series games.

Los Angeles will start the NLCS at home on Thursday against either defending World Series champion Philadelphia, which beat the Dodgers in five games in last year's NLCS, or Colorado, which LA beat 14 times this season in 18 games.

Andre Ethier hit a two-run homer and added a triple for the Dodgers, while Manny Ramirez had three hits and two RBI. All five LA runs came with two outs.

Joel Pineiro took the loss, allowing four runs on seven hits in just four innings.