Phillies Edge Tampa Bay in World Series Game 1
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2nd baseman Chase Utley pounded a first inning 2-2 pitch out to rightfield with a runner on and 1 out and ace lefthander Cole Hamels pitched a solid seven innings as the Phillies edged the Tampa Bay Rays by a 3-2 score to take game 1 of the 2008 World Series in Tampa Bay.
This game was a battle of young lefthanders as Hamels was opposed by Scott Kazmir. Hamels was severely challenged in only the third and fifth innings and benefited from 2 big doubleplays and a pick-off to elude trouble. Hamels also benefited by the Rays’ 2 through 5 hitters, as well as the dh, going a collective 1 for 19.
Kazmir, however, found himself in a slew of trouble throughout his six innings as the Phillies left a ton of runners on throughout the game.
After Utley homered to give the Phils a 2-0 lead, they loaded the bases in the second inning with one out. But when Jimmy Rollins flew out to center, centerfielder Shane Victorino, who reached on an infield single to begin the inning, was nailed at home on an on-target one-hop throw by centerfielder B.J. Upton to end the inning. Both Utley and Victorino were 2 for 4 for the game.
There were enough rally-killers on the Phillies side as Rollins, 1st baseman Ryan Howard and leftfielder Pat Burrell went 0 for 12 striking out 7 times as the Phils left 11 runners stranded for the game. They will have to do more scoring and give their pitchers more elbow-room to win the series. The Rays are no push-over, and like any great team, they are capable of scoring a bunch in a hurry.
The Phillies scored their decisive 3rd run in the fourth inning when, with runners on 2nd and 3rd base with 1 out, catcher Carlos Ruiz grounded to shortstop for the second out with Victorino scoring. The “Flyin’ Hawaiian” had opened the inning with a single to right center and went to 2nd on 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz’s single to center. DH Chris Coste grounded out advancing both runners.
In the Rays’ fourth inning, leftfielder Carl Crawford pounded Hamels’ first pitch for a 2 out solo shot to rightfield to cut the lead to 3-1. Hamels retired the side in the fourth getting dh Willy Aybar to fly out to centerfield on an 0-2 pitch after taking a strike and fouling off 2 other pitches.
The Rays scored their 2nd run in the fifth inning as Hamels issued a 2 out walk to shortstop Jason Bartlett followed by leadoff hitter 2nd baseman Akinori Iwamura’s RBI double. Hamels got B.J. Upton to foul out to 1st base to end the inning
But after Hamels walked 1st baseman Carlos Pena to open the sixth inning and promptly picked him off 1st base, the young ace retired the final 5 hitters he faced. Hamels threw 102 pitches through seven innings giving up 2 runs on 5 hits while walking 2 and striking out 5 to win his 4th post-season game. Then reliever Ryan Madson and closer Brad Lidge put the lights out on the Rays with perfect eighth and ninth innings.
Kazmir gave up 3 runs on 6 hits while walking 4 and striking out 4 while tossing 110 pitches through six innings. 4 Tampa Bay pitchers closed out the Phillies through the final 3 innings as 4 Phillies reached, 2 on hits and 2 walks.
AP sports writer Ronald Blum recorded these comments from 2 Phillies on the importance of winning game 1 and trivia on Hamels’ 4th post-season win for Yahoo sports;
“It’s huge,” Phillies closer Brad Lidge said. “You try and downplay it, but obviously you’re coming into a place like this, you want to make sure you get the first game, especially because you got your ace on the mound. It’s really important to do that.”
It seems the rust vs. rest debate as been around almost since, well, the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Philadelphia had six days to reflect and relax after winning the National League pennant. The Rays had two days to recover after beating Boston in Game 7 for the AL title on Sunday night.
“I don’t think it threw off our timing too much,” Utley said of the layoff. “I think tomorrow we should definitely be more back on track.”
It was the first Series game on artificial turf since 1993—the Phillies’ previous one. … The only other pitchers with four wins in four postseason starts were Dave Stewart (1989), David Wells (1998) and Josh Beckett (2007).
In Thursday’s game 2, Brett Myers is opposed by James Shields. On Saturday, the venue switches to Philadelphia for game 3 as 45 year old lefthander Jamie Moyer faces Matt Garza.
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