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Now, Rays' Miracle Needs A Miracle

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Carlos Pena reacts after striking out in the fourth inning against the Phillies in Game 4.

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By MARTIN FENNELLY

mfennelly@tampatrib.com

Published: October 27, 2008

Updated: 10/27/2008 12:55 am

PHILADELPHIA - So here we are.

The dream is on the brink.

The Miracle needs a miracle.

After a season of never saying never, defeating all comers, beating all odds, an unimaginable journey that swept up underdog lovers everywhere, it's down to this for these Rays of hope.

"It's win or go home," Evan Longoria said.

Actually, it's win, then go home and win two more.

There's no way around the anything-but-grand canyon the Rays find themselves in after getting their cowbells rung 10-2 by the Phillies in Game 4 of the World Series.

They're down 3-1, staring at one, two, three elimination games.

And the first one is a beauty - tonight at Citizens Bank Park, against Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels, 4-0 this postseason, and in front of towel-wielding of unbrotherly nut cases who haven't waved home a world champion in 28 years.

That's where Joe Maddon's Rays are this morning.

They needed to win Game 4.

They were steamrolled.

They were beaten up.

The Phillies look rougher and tougher.

It can't end this way, can it?

It can't end without the country seeing the team we've seen all year.

It can't end with those futile swings by Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria, who are dissolving before our eyes. Longo nearly lost it while arguing a bad call in the first. These two have meant so much. Now they're coming up empty with everyone watching, when it matters most.

It can't end the way it ended in the ninth inning of Game 3, the great unraveling, with nightmare miscues costing the Rays a game they've won all season.

It can't end the way it did in Game 4, with the Phillies overpowering Andy Sonnanstine in four innings, with Ryan Howard driving two out, with Jayson Werth driving one out - heck, with Phillies pitcher Joe Blanton driving one out, his first career homer.

So here we are.

"We can do it," Sonnanstine said.

Forty-two times in the World Series a team has fallen behind 3-1. Only six teams have come back from that. The Rays need to get back home, easier said than done, because they haven't done the things that got them here. There have been mistakes at the plate, mistakes in the field, mistakes on the mound. Here in Independence Central, and when in the course of human events, events have gone all wrong. The Rays are ragged, dazed.

We saw it as Sonnanstine, so reliable this postseason, struggled mightily. We saw it as each of the four Rays pitchers served up homers. And we saw it as Longoria, suddenly so young and vulnerable, argued that awful umpire's call in the first inning. Longoria did tag Jimmy Rollins at the end of that rundown. The replay showed it.

What else could go wrong?

You could see it in Longo's face.

With the chant of "Eva" ringing down on him from the stands, he struck out three more times and went hitless again. So did Carlos Pena in front of him, with two strikeouts. They're the M&M twins - Muck and Mire.

The Phillies' big bats have warmed to this Series. The heart of the Rays order is out of order. Pena is 0-for-13 in the Series and Longoria is 0-for-16. Have you ever? Combined, they're 1 for their past 45 (.022).

So here we are.

There have been few stories like the 2008 Rays.

They've been a dream.

The dream needs a comeback.

The Miracle needs a miracle.

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