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Rays Cling To What Little Hope They Have Left

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 27, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - The situation isn't too complicated, really, and the Rays know that.

To keep the World Series going and get it back to Tropicana Field, they have to win tonight, and they have to beat Philadelphia's best starter, Cole Hamels.

If they can do that, they'd have to beat the Phillies two more times in St. Petersburg. But let's not get ahead of things because the way they played Sunday in a 10-2 loss in Game 4, winning one in a row would be quite an accomplishment.

"I don't even like to talk about three in a row. The mantra has been one at a time. I want to approach it that way," Rays manager Joe Maddon said Sunday after that debacle. "That's how we've approached the whole season. It's about beating the guy tomorrow and getting back home. It's about tomorrow. I don't want us looking any further ahead than that; it's about tomorrow's game. They're pitcher is really good; so is ours."

Scott Kazmir gets the call for the Rays. We know, of course, that he's good enough to dial up a two-hit shutout. Given how good Hamels can be and the way the Rays aren't hitting, that may be exactly what he needs to do.

Of course, we also know Kazmir is capable of reaching 100 pitches by the fourth inning and being knocked around. The Rays definitely need him to be the "good" Kaz tonight or this dream season will come to a premature end.

"We don't want to give them four outs an inning. We have to have better at-bats. Those are the keys to our success that have gotten away from us a bit," Maddon said. "To the Phillies' credit, they've played really well, and they are very good, but we have to play our game in order to win tomorrow and the next couple of days after that."

The struggles of Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria have been well-chronicled. They are a combined 0-for-29 in the World Series with 15 strikeouts. If that continues tonight, the Rays have no shot because Hamels doesn't figure to give them many chances.

They did get two runs off him in seven innings in Game 1 at the Trop, which was a 3-2 Phillies win against Kazmir. Carl Crawford did hit a home run in that game.

That tends to give you at least a little hope.

But Maddon and the Rays know that while beating the Phillies would be tough enough anyway, they're making it worse with some shoddy fielding and, of course, those struggles at the plate by their biggest guns.

"I just think that both guys are just out of their game a little bit right now, quite frankly, in regards to their strike zone," Maddon said. "If I preach anything to them, it is to not expand their strike zone, because more often than not, the Phillies are making certain pitches, absolutely, and they've done a pretty good job.

"But if we stick to our game plan, we'll be able to counterpunch them. We have to get back into it. We know what's going on, we're just not reacting very well, yet, but there is time."

Not much time though.

The Rays have responded every time they've been in a tough spot this year, including a Game 7 victory in the American League Championship Series against Boston when the momentum was going against them. They beat Red Sox's ace Jon Lester twice in that series when conventional wisdom held that he was untouchable.

They'll need every bit of that magic tonight.

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