TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Shields Is Solid, Bats Efficient As Tampa Bay Ties Series BACK TO EVEN

ADVERTISEMENT

By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: October 24, 2008

Updated: 10/24/2008 01:46 am

ST. PETERSBURG - All those little things that broke the other way in Game 1 of the World Series came back to the Rays on Thursday.

It looked a lot more like the way Tampa Bay has played all season, and the result followed in kind. The Rays will head to Philadelphia today with the series even at a game apiece after an efficient 4-2 victory at Tropicana Field put them back on solid ground.

Perhaps there was a bit of tightness to be worked out in the opener, despite the Rays' fervent protests to the contrary both before and after Game 1. Thursday was all business, though, as the Rays took the blue-collar route from the very beginning.

Their two runs in the first inning came home on groundouts by Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria, and their next two on a single by B.J. Upton and a squeeze bunt from Jason Bartlett.

Of the four runners who came around to touch the plate, none advanced more than one base at a time on the way home. It was station-to-station all the way, with the longball held in reserve for an evening.

"That's small ball and that's the way we've played all year," said Upton.

That was true on the pitching end as well, with James Shields keeping the ball down and in the park for the duration of his 52/3 innings and dealing with trouble when it materialized. David Price finished it off despite allowing a couple of runs in his 21/3 innings and it was time to move ahead.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT