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Game 5, Rays' Fate Is Clouded Due To Rain

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Evan Longoria, left, talks with Carlos Pena during batting practice Monday, Oct. 27, 2008 in Philadelphia.

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: October 28, 2008

Updated: 10/28/2008 01:44 am

PHILADELPHIA - As B.J. Upton came tiptoeing around third base and slid home to score the tying run in the sixth inning Monday night, no one was exactly sure what it meant.

But when Game 5 went into a rain delay minutes later and was suspended a half-hour after that with the Rays and Phillies deadlocked at 2, those in the visiting clubhouse felt a lot better about their situation.

"It's been an interesting day," Upton said, his sense of humor about the only dryness remaining at a soggy Citizens Bank Park.

The Rays don't know when they'll resume their quest to remain alive in the playoffs and take the World Series back to Tropicana Field. For now, everything is up in the air.

Having checked out of their downtown Philadelphia hotel Monday afternoon, the Rays relocated to nearby Wilmington, Del., early this morning to await Major League Baseball's next move.

Commissioner Bud Selig said the teams and their fans would be given ample notice when Game 5 would resume. In the meantime, the Rays were buoyed by the signs of life they showed before the game became too waterlogged to continue.

They had bounced back from another rough start by Scott Kazmir, who for the fourth time in five postseason starts allowed a pair of runs in the first inning.

Most uplifting for the Rays was the way they did it, with the formerly slumping Carlos Pena scoring the first run after doubling for his first hit since Game 5 of the ALCS and driving in Upton two innings later with an opposite-field single. Better yet, it was Evan Longoria who brought home Pena in the fourth with his first World Series hit, a single to center.

Though rain had been coming down since before the game even began, conditions didn't really begin to deteriorate until the fifth inning. The Phillies' grounds crew, fighting an impossible battle, scurried around the infield spreading drying compound when Kazmir was pulled from the game two batters into the bottom of the fifth and went through the same routine at the end of the inning after Grant Balfour stranded a pair of runners with three straight pop-outs.

"They tried everything they could tonight to keep it dry," Balfour said. "The mound, to me, wasn't too bad. They threw all the stuff on there and it seemed OK. But obviously it got worse and worse as the night went on. It was tough."

Upton called it "almost scary" in center field, with rain blowing into his face and the danger that any ball hit on the wet grass could skip away.

No one argued with the decision to suspend it, though the Phillies knew they would lose a big advantage if it came to that. Their starter, Cole Hamels, won't be able to return when play resumes. General Manager Pat Gillick admitted his team wasn't thrilled about that, but pointed to the strength of the Phillies' bullpen as a positive heading forward.

The Rays also will turn to their relievers and have plenty of options. Balfour is technically still in the game and could end up taking the ball again for the bottom of the sixth. The Rays also could turn to David Price and treat it as a mini-start, with Edwin Jackson and J.P. Howell also possibilities to pitch multiple innings. One certainty: Game 6 starter James Shields will not be used.

With all the uncertainty swirling around, the Rays were upbeat and ready for whatever comes next in a season that continues to surprise.

"It'll give us a little bit of time to gather ourselves, as well as them, too," Upton said. "Whenever we start this thing up, both teams will be ready to play."

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227.

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