Rays look to get even with Phillies

For the eighth time since baseball's interleague play began, a World Series rematch will be staged when the Philadelphia Phillies visit the Rays in a three-game series beginning tonight at Tropicana Field. Four times in the past, the World Series loser has won the following season's rematch series.

YANKEES-BRAVES

1996 World Series - Yankees defeat Braves 4-2.

Synopsis: The Yankees won their first championship since 1978, winning four straight after dropping the first two games at home. The key moment was Game 4 in Atlanta, when the Yankees rallied from a 6-0 deficit, tying it on Jim Leyritz's three-run homer in the eighth inning, then winning it 8-6 in 10 innings.

1997 Rematch - Braves win three-game series at Yankee Stadium.

Synopsis: Yankees take opener 1-0 on Luis Sojo's 10th-inning hit, but Braves win two straight, including a brilliant three-hitter by Greg Maddux (84 pitches, no walks, eight strikeouts) in 2-0 victory.

YANKEES-BRAVES

1999 World Series - Yankees defeat Braves 4-0.

Synopsis: The Yankees became the first team to have consecutive sweeps at the World Series since the 1938-39 Yankees. Atlanta carried a 1-0 lead into the eighth inning of Game 1, but the Yankees rallied with four runs, including a two-run single by Paul O'Neill that snapped a 1-1 tie. In Game 3, after the Braves wasted an early 5-1 lead, Chad Curtis hit a walk-off homer in the 10th inning, giving New York a 6-5 victory.

2000 Rematch - Yankees win three-game series at Turner Field.

Synopsis: Yankees get bookend victories with huge home runs - Ricky Ledee's three-run homer in a 5-2 win, then Clay Bellinger's two-out solo homer in the seventh to cap a 7-6 win. Braves take middle game 11-7. Derek Jeter goes 9-for-15 in series.

YANKEES-METS

2000 World Series - Yankees defeat Mets 4-1.

Synopsis: In the first Subway Series since 1956, the Yankees became baseball's first three-peat champions since the 1972-74 Oakland Athletics. The Yankees claimed momentum in Game 1 with a 12-inning 4-3 win. Game 2 is remembered for Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens grabbing part of the sawed-off broken bat of Mike Piazza, then tossing it toward Piazza as he ran the bases. In the regular season, a Clemens pitch hit Piazza's head, causing a concussion and sending him to the disabled list.

2001 Rematch - Yankees take two out of three at each stadium.

Synopsis: At Shea Stadium, where Yankees villain Roger Clemens doesn't pitch (or bat), Mets salvage a third-game victory, 8-7, with a six-run eighth-inning (capped by Mike Piazza's two-run homer). At Yankee Stadium, Yankees take the bookend games, but Mets grab a 3-0 victory on two-out, 10th-inning rally against Mariano Rivera.

DIAMONDBACKS- YANKEES

2001 World Series - Diamondbacks defeat Yankees 4-3.

Synopsis: The home team won every game, including a pair of dramatic late-inning comebacks by the Yankees, and the Game 7 walk-off series-ending single by Tampa's Luis Gonzalez, the Arizona outfielder. Diamondbacks pitchers Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were co-MVPs, combining for a 4-0 record, a 1.40 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 391/3 innings.

2002 Rematch - Yankees win three-game series at Yankee Stadium.

Synopsis: Yankees win first two games with big homers - Shane Spencer's two-out eighth-inning grand slam in a 7-5 win, then Nick Johnson's three-run homer in a 6-4 victory. Diamondbacks salvage a closing 9-5 win.

RED SOX-CARDINALS

2004 World Series - Red Sox defeat Cardinals 4-0.

Synopsis: Who would've guessed the Red Sox's first World Series triumph since 1918 would be so anticlimactic? But after Boston erased a three-game deficit against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series, the sweep of the Cardinals almost seemed like window dressing.

2005 Rematch - Cardinals win three-game series at Busch Stadium.

Synopsis: In a series with superb pitching, Cardinals take first two games (including four-hitter by Matt Morris in 7-1 opener), then Red Sox left-hander David Wells paces Boston's 4-0 closing victory by allowing just four hits (and no walks) over eight innings.

WHITE SOX-ASTROS

2005 World Series - White Sox defeat Astros 4-0.

Synopsis: The White Sox won their first World Series since 1917. Momentum was claimed by Chicago in Game 2 on Scott Posednik's walk-off homer in the 7-6 win. In Game 3, the White Sox won 7-5 in 14 innings in the first World Series game ever played in Texas.

2006 Rematch - White Sox win three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field.

Synopsis: White Sox take first two games, but drama is reserved for the finale. Tadahito Iguchi's two-out grand slam in ninth inning (off Houston's Brad Lidge) ties it 9-9, then Astros got the game-winner in top of the 13th inning.

CARDINALS-TIGERS

2006 World Series - Cardinals defeat Tigers 4-1.

Synopsis: Cardinals manager Tony La Russa became the second man (along with Sparky Anderson) to win a World Series in each league. Game 2 featured controversy as Tigers starter Kenny Rogers seemed to have a foreign substance on his hand (he said it was dirt; umpires made him wash his hands after the second inning). Rogers pitched eight shutout innings and the Tigers won 3-1 to even the series, but the Cardinals swept through three home games to put it away.

2007 Rematch - Tigers sweep three-game series at Comerica Park.

Synopsis: Tigers show a bit of everything - including an 18-hit attack in a 14-4 opening win, then Justin Verlander's command (five hits allowed over eight innings) in the 6-3 finale.