Phils Let One Slip Away

The Phillies won game one of the World Series with good pitching and solid defense.  Cole Hamels and the Phillies’ bullpen were able to pick up the stagnant offense, and win the game.  The Phils were unable to replicate that formula for success last night, as they dropped game two 4-2 to the Rays, evening the series at one game apiece. 

For the second game in a row, the Phillies offense was unable to cash in on their opportunities with runners on base.  In six of the nine innings last night, the Phillies got their leadoff man on base.  They stranded 26 men in all, and went just 1-15 with runners in scoring position.  This offense has been historically bad in games one and two, making things that much tougher on the Phillies pitchers.

For his part, Brett Myers, while not horrible, wasn’t good enough to make up for the Phillies lack of offense.  Myers’ first-inning struggles continued last night, as he walked Akinori Iwamura and allowed a B.J. Upton single to open the game.  Jayson Werth bobbled Upton’s single putting two runners in scoring position with no one out.  Unlike the Phillies, the Rays were able to capitalize on their chances with runners in scoring position.  Both runners scored on ground outs, putting the Phillies in an early 2-0 hole.  The Rays added runs in the second and fourth innings.

The Phillies scored two late runs off Rays’ reliever David Price.  Eric Bruntlett hit a pinch-hit homer in the eighth and Carlos Ruiz scored on a Jayson Werth shot that was ruled an error in the ninth.  The opportunities to score many more runs were there, but the Phillies failed to come through.  Say what you will about the umpiring performance of Kerwin Danley — and trust me it was nothing short of brutal — and it’s impact on the game, but the bottom line is the Phillies didn’t capitalize on the chances they were given by the Rays.