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Rays Beats Phils 4-2, World Series Even at 1 Game Apiece

Friday, October 24th, 2008 | General, MLB, NFL, Sports | No Comments

The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 in Game 2 of the World Series. The World Series is now tied at 1 game a piece, and Games 3, 4 and 5 will be played at Citizen’s Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia. The Rays struck early taking advantage of a Jayson Werth error on B.J. Upton’s single in the 1st inning, to set the Rays up with 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria each delivered RBI ground outs to Jimmy Rollins and the Rays opened up a 2-0 lead, a lead they would never relinquish. The Rays increased the lead to 3-0 on an RBI-single by B.J. Upton in the 2nd inning, but the damage could have been worse. Jayson Werth gunned down Rocco Baldelli at the plate on the Upton single to end any further threat. The Rays scored their 4th and final run on a safety squeeze in the 4th inning. The Phillies added a run in the 8th on a solo home run by Eric Bruntlett and a run in the 9th on a fielding error by Evan Longoria which allowed Carlos Ruiz to score, but the late innings were not all that tense. The Phillies had their chances earlier in the game against Rays starter James Shields, but they never came through in the clutch. The Phillies had 9 hits in all, and had at least 2 runners on each of the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th innings – but the team didn’t score in any of those innings. Shields allowed 9 batters to reach base against him in only 5 2/3 innings, but he was always able to avoid that big inning. Dan Wheeler pitched one inning of scoreless relief and rookie David Price closed out the final 2 1/3 innings. Although Price did give up 2 runs during that span, he was never really in any serious trouble. Despite taking the loss, Bret Myers pitched better than expected. He needed only 85 pitches through his 7 innings and only gave up 3 earned runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. He didn’t have his best stuff, but he was able to minimize the damage in certain situations.

As for my predictions – I was definitely wrong about the high-scoring affair. If the teams had come through in the clutch when they had opportunities, I think I would have been spot on, but neither team has responded when it matters (the Phillies 0-for-19 stretch with runners in scoring position was the 2nd longest drought to start a World Series).

Rays in 7 – still a strong possibility.

B.J. Upton – MVP – Upton helped me out in a big way with his 2-for-4 performance. He scored the 2nd run of the game, drove in the 3rd run of the game with 2 outs in the inning, and played solid defense. He’ll need to step it up with some home runs in order to solidify the MVP award, however.

It looks like the Rays have found a “temporary” closer for the rest of the World Series. David Price has one of the fastest fastballs in the game and a nasty slider, and because he was just called up in September, there’s not a lot of scouting information out there on the young kid. Look for Price to play a key role in late inning wins as the series progresses.

Tags: game 2, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays, World Series

Rays take game 2

Sunday, October 12th, 2008 | Sports | 1 Comment

In what was arguably a must win game for the Rays the bull pens shined and Tampa pulled out a 11th inning victory.  Not what we expected from Beckett and Kazmir but a 9 – 8 win that showed 7 home runs and 4 lead changes.  This was another classic between these 2 teams who just went 14 innings 1month ago where Tampa Bay had a walk off in the 14th, their 11 and major league leading of the season.  Both starting pitchers struggled in this game but both bull pens reached deep and after the 6th it was a pitcher’s duel until the end.  Evan Longoria found his bat after going 2 for his last 16, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youklis shined in this one for a total of 3 home runs between them.  One thing is for sure that this will be a hard fought series no matter who wins.  Sunday is a travel day while the teams head to Boston to resume Game 3 on Monday.  Game time is scheduled for 4 pm est.  On the mound will be Lester for the Red Sox, who is quickly being vaulted into the Ace spotlight and going for Tampa will be Garza.  This will be another dual from the mound as both pitchers have sub 3.5 ERAs.

Tags: game 2, MLB, MLB playoffs, Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays