Knowing they had to win at least once in Florida in order to win the whole thing, the Philadelphia Phillies are up one game to nothing after a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays last night at Tropicana Field.
Former Jay Jayson Werth drew a one-out walk to set the stage for a Chase Utley two-run homer in the first and two singles and two groundouts led to the eventual winning run for the Phils in the fourth. Carl Crawford poked a solo shot in the fourth to put Tampa on the board and Akinora Iwamura delivered a two-out double to score Jason Bartlett, who started the two-out rally with a walk before stealing second base to account for the game's final run.
B.J. Upton should maybe change his initials to D.P. after hitting into a pair of double plays in his first two at-bats. Upton's first twin killing came in the first to erase a gift infield hit by Iwamura when the lumbering Ryan Howard was unable to get to the bag. Upton then hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the third. Bossman Junior had another chance to redeem himself in the fifth but fouled out to strand Iwamura's RBI double.
Cole Hamels continues to be nails in the post-season with seven strong innings while Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge shut the door in the last two innings. Scott Kazmir gutted his way through six innings before four relievers pitched three goose egg innings to give the Rays a chance.
In the "Former Jays" update, Jayson Werth was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk and a run scored and lefty reliever Trever Miller punched out Ryan Howard in the eighth to help short circuit a rally in the eighth. Howard continues to do his Pedro Cerrano impersonation in the post-season. The straight ball he hits very much, everything else not so much. He went 0-for-4 with a hat trick and a walk.
One random observation, don't you think Werth looks a bit like this guy? Compare and contrast, if you will.
Game 2 goes tonight with "Big Game" James Shields on the bump for Tampa. Brett Myers starts for Philly in an 8:35 start at the Trop.
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