You knew eventually that the fightin' Phils would finally break out of their series slump with runners in scoring position.
They did that tonight- and THEN SOME.
When your starting pitcher with a .061 average in his career homers and equals his career rbi total, you know something special is in the air. Add two homers and five rbi's by a surging Ryan Howard and the Philadlephia Phillies need just one more win to become the World Champions of 2008. They now lead the Rays three games to one, and with lefty Cole Hamels pitching tomorrow night's game, the Phillies have to feel confident about their chances of wrapping up the series tomorrow.
The Phils attacked starter Andy Sonnanstine from the bottom of the first inning. Although they only scored one run on a bases loaded walk from Pat Burrell, Pedro Feliz singled to drive in the second run in the bottom of the second inning and the Phillies. The umpiring seemed to go the Phillies way as well. Replays showed that third baseman Evan Longoria tagged out Jimmy Rollins in the bottom of the first inning. Rollins later scored and went 3 for 5. Jayson Werth went 2 for 4 and added a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. With his two home runs, Howard joins Lenny Dykstra in 1993 as the two Phillies with multi home run games in the World Series.
Blanton was also spectacular on the mound. Pitching six innings with seven strikeouts. Rays corner infielders Longoria and Carlos Pena went a combined 0 for 7 and are both hitless in the series.
On a personal note, this game was actually easier to watch in person than last night's nail biter. Then again, this will happen when you score 10 runs as opposed to just 5. In addition to the Rays facing Hamels tomorrow, they now also have to worry about the Phillies offense, which has clearly awoken from its slumber.
If all goes well tomorrow, it may be a few days before I write another column for this site. After all, it's not like anyone would have a reason to be disgruntled anyway.
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