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Rays Recap: Rally Squandered By Weird Ninth

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 26, 2008

Joey Johnston looks at how, and why, the Phillies managed a 5-4victory over the Rays to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series.

Innining-by-Inning

1st inning
Rays 0-0-0
Phillies 1-1-0

Top half: Carlos Pena draws two-out walk, but Jamie Moyer strikes out Evan Longoria.

Bottom half: Chase Utley's grounder scores a run, but Phillies strand runners at second and third.

2nd inning
Rays 1-1-0
Phillies 1-1-0

Top half: Carl Crawford bloops a double, steals third, scores on Gabe Gross' sacrifice fly.

Bottom half: Just when Matt Garza settles down, Carlos Ruiz blasts two-out solo homer.

3rd inning
Rays 0-0-0
Phillies 0-2-0

Top half: Moyer gets 1-2-3 inning (and a called strikeout of B.J. Upton).

Bottom half: Jimmy Rollins, who leads off with single, gunned down by Dioner Navarro on steal attempt.

4th inning
Rays 0-0-0
Phillies 0-0-0

Top half: Another 1-2-3 inning (and nine straight retired batters) for Moyer.

Bottom half: Garza strikes out the side on 19 pitches.

5th inning
Rays 0-1-0
Phillies 0-0-0

Top half: Navarro's leadoff single – off the glove of Rollins at shortstop – is wasted.

Bottom half: Ruiz draws leadoff walk, but gets stranded.

6th inning
Rays 0-1-0
Phillies 2-2-0

Top half: Upton singles and steals second, but Longoria's two-out blast to left is held in the park by the wind.

Bottom half: Utley, Ryan Howard slam back-to-back solo homers off Garza.

7th inning
Rays 2-2-0
Phillies 0-0-0

Top half: Rays revert to small-ball, scoring twice on grounders, but Akinori Iwamura strikes out, stranding runner on first.

Bottom half: It's a 1-2-3 inning for reliever Chad Bradford.

8th inning
Rays 1-1-0
Phillies 0-0-1

Top half: Upton creates the tying run with infield single, two steals and a throwing error by catcher Carlos Ruiz.

Bottom half: Jayson Werth walks and steals second, but J.P. Howell picks him off.

9th inning
Rays 0-0-1
Phillies 1-1-0

Top half: It's a 1-2-3 inning for Phillies reliever J.C. Romero.

Bottom half: Hit batsman, wild pitch, throwing error, two intentional walks, a slow roller with the bases loaded – and the Phillies win.

Breaking It Down

Ruiz, who hit a solo home run in the second inning, squibbed a slow roller down the third-base line with the bases loaded in the ninth, allowing the winning run to score with none out in the Philadelphia Phillies' 5-4 victory against the Rays Saturday night's Game 3 of the World Series. Longoria, playing in, charged the squibber and underhanded it to catcher Dioner Navarro, but it was way too late to get Eric Bruntlett. Rays manager Joe Maddon tried to force the action, bringing in right fielder Ben Zobrist (who changed gloves) to the middle for five infielders, leaving only Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton in the outfield. "It looked like they were about to blitz,'' Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard said. "You do what you've got to do. Fortunately, we got the run home.''

Key Decision

Crawford, trying to get something started in Tampa Bay's seventh inning, laid down a bunt along the first-base line. Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer made a brilliant play, going horizontal, fielding with his glove hand, then flipping to first, where Howard caught it bare-handed. Television replays indicated Crawford was out by a step. But first-base umpire Tom Hallion called Crawford safe. It led to a pair of Tampa Bay runs and cut the Phillies' lead to 4-3, but it didn't diminish the effort of Moyer or Howard.

Play Of The Game

Upton's tour around the bases in the eighth inning. He beat out an infield single, when Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins double-clutched and couldn't get the speedy Upton. During an at-bat by Carlos Pena, Upton stole second. During an at-bat by Longoria, Upton stole third – and the throw by catcher Ruiz skipped away, allowing Upton to score the tying run.

Quirky Play

The Rays trailed 2-1 in the sixth, when Upton singled. With two outs, on the first pitch to Evan Longoria, he stole second. Then Longoria blasted what appeared to be a two-run homer, high into the left-field corner, and a probable 3-2 lead for the Rays. But it slowed down considerably and plopped into the glove of left fielder Pat Burrell, who drifted to the warning track. "How did that stay in the park?'' Fox broadcaster Joe Buck said. "It has to be the wind. It's blowing straight in.'' Moyer stuck his tongue out playfully and grinned, knowing he had gotten away with something.

Critical Moment

After Philadelphia's Jayson Werth drew a walk from Chad Bradford to lead off the eighth inning, J.P. Howell entered. Werth stole second, putting the lead run in scoring position. During the at-bat to Chase Utley, Howell picked Werth off second base (then proceeded to strike out Utley swinging). Next up, Howell got Howard on a called strike three and it remained tied going to the ninth.

Crunching The Numbers

Upton had three stolen bases and Crawford had another, giving the Rays 22 steals for the postseason to break the major-league record (the 1975 Reds and 1992 Braves each had 20). The American League record had been 18 (1995 Indians). Overall, the Rays are 22-for-24 in stolen-base attempts in the postseason. They were 10-for-11 against Boston in the ALCS.

Our Take

What an odd scenario. The game began at 10:07 p.m., late Saturday night. It ended 1:48 a.m., early Sunday morning. It was noon when Moyer arrived at the ballpark (yes 10 hours, seven minutes of waiting for the starting pitcher). It rained throughout the afternoon and it was still pouring when Fox's broadcast initially came on the air. We were told the rain would let up (but it seemed to be coming down harder). Why such an effort to get the game in, when so many viewers probably went to bed? Maybe Fox didn't want to force a potential Game 5 into Tuesday night, when a heavily promoted episode of "House'' was scheduled. "Do Not Miss This Episode!'' said the voice-over, teasing to Tuesday night's prime-time lineup. Apparently, baseball wasn't about to get in the way of that.

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