Rays even things up as series shifts to Philly by Mike Ghika
Phils' offense sputters again; Price brought on for 2.1 innings of relief

For Tampa Bay's Rays, getting out to a 4-0 lead in Game 2 of the World Series was everything Joe Maddon could have hoped for in trying to even the battle. His offense scored two in the first, another in the second, and one more in the fourth to put the game out of reach. Meanwhile, the Phils' offense disappointed again, leaving 11 runners on base for the second consecutive night while going just 1-for-15 with men in scoring position.

In the first, Tampa's Akinori Iwamura got things started with a walk. Centerfielder BJ Upton followed with a base-hit single to right that Jayson Werth played into an error, allowing Iwamura to move up to third and the speedy Upton to second. Sluggers Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria each followed with RBI groundouts to score both runners, and quickly James Shields was staked to an early lead.

With two outs in the second, the Rays would tack on another when another Upton base-hit to right scored Dioneer Navarro, who had singled to center. Rocco Baldelli, however, was cut down at the plate on the same play after a perfect throw from Werth in an attempt to atone for his error the previous inning.

Designated hitter Cliff Floyd and Navarro led off the fourth with back-to-back singles, and a Baldelli fielder's choice placed runners at the corners with one out. After shortstop Jason Bartlett fouled off a bunt attempt with Floyd dashing for the plate, he got the job done on the next pitch with a safety squeeze well down the first base line, allowing Floyd to score easily for a 4-0 advantage.

The Phils' offense stranded two runners on in four different frames in this one, while Shields was effective threw 5.2 innings, allowing no runs while scattering seven hits. But after his pitch count got up to 104 pitches with two on and two out in the sixth, Maddon brought on Dan Wheeler from the bullpen, who got Phils' third baseman Pedro Feliz to weakly ground into a fiedler's choice to escape the jam.

Wheeler walked catcher Carlos Ruiz to open the seventh, but Jimmy Rollins and Werth were strikeout victims of the righty, and that prompted Maddon to call on the 6-6, 225-pound, 22-year-old David Price to finish things off. After Chase Utley worked a walk, Price caught strikeout-machine Ryan Howard looking to end the inning.

Price's only mishap of the eighth was allowing a pinch-hit solo shot to Eric Bruntlett to make it a three-run game. In the ninth, Ruiz led off the frame with a leadoff double, and he came around to score on a Longoria error for an unearned run. Nonetheless, the young lefty got boppers Utley to strikeout swinging and Howard to ground out to second to end it -- the 4-2 win sending the series back to Philadelphia all square.

Phillies' starter Brett Myers turned in a nice performance in the losing effort, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits. He was economical on the night, needing just 88 pitches to get through seven innings.

Unfortunately, early reports indicate that Saturday night's Game 3 has a strong chance of getting rained out, meaning the make-up would force the two teams to play Games 3-7 on five consecutive days.

Published on October 23, 2008

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