-By Anthony Crupi

TBS on Wednesday notched its biggest delivery of the postseason, as Game 5 of the National League Championship Series drew 7.98 million viewers.

In what would prove to be the deciding game of the 2009 NLCS (the Phillies advanced to the World Series with a 10-4 win over the Dodgers), TBS saw its audience grow 11 percent versus Game 5 of last year’s ALCS (7.21 million).

Taken as a whole, the Phillies-Dodgers series averaged 5.9 million viewers on TBS, down 20 percent versus last year’s 7-game ALCS, which drew 7.4 million viewers.

Last season, TBS was the beneficiary of a battle royal between the Red Sox and Rays, a series that culminated in the most-watched baseball telecast in cable history. On Oct. 19, 2008, the deciding game of the Sox-Rays tilt drew a whopping 13.4 million viewers, per Nielsen live-plus-same-day ratings data.)

All told, TBS’ slate of 18 MLB playoff games averaged 5.15 million viewers, down 4 percent from the 5.38 million viewers the cable net drew with its 22 postseason telecasts a year ago.

October baseball continues to draw a crowd at Fox, as Game 5 of the Yankees-Angels ALCS drew a series-high 8.9 overnight rating Thursday night, up 41 percent from the 6.3 the broadcaster notched with its coverage of the fifth game of last season’s NLCS.

Fox’s early numbers suggest that 10.3 million viewers watched last night’s game, a bruising 7-6 Angels win that sends the series back to the Bronx. Fox’s presentation of Game 6 of the ALCS is set for Saturday, Oct. 24 at 7:57 p.m. EDT.