Mother Nature decided Phillies fans will have wait for a chance to celebrate their first World Series title since 1980 as rain led to the suspension of Game 5.
Update: Game 5, Part 2 has been pushed back to Wednesday. It will pick up in the bottom of the sixth inning, tied at 2-2.
It looked like the Phillies were on the way to popping those champagne corks when Shane Victorino delivered a two-run single in the first inning off Scott Kazmir. Amazingly, that's all Philly would get off the Tampa lefty despite giving up four hits and six hits (not to mention a hit batsmen) in four-plus innings. The Rays scratched back with a run when Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena ended a combined 0-for-31 slump in the series with a double and single off Cole Hamels. In the sixth, the Rays managed to tie it when B.J. Upton reached on an infield single to short, stole second and scampered home on Pena's single despite the wet grass and muddy infield.
It's a good thing no one was hurt after this debacle and it's a good thing the score wasn't 6-1 or something like that because that would be an awful way to end the World Series. It'll be interesting to see who Tampa will put on the mound when this game resumes. Will it be Grant Balfour, who bailed out Kazmir in the fifth when he allowed the first two runners to get aboard with nobody out? Will it be David Price, who is well rested now after not having pitched since closing out Game 2? Also, who will pinch hit for Hamels as it will be the 9-1-2 spots coming up in the sixth for the Phillies? Could it be NLCS Game 4 hero and all around good Canadian boy Matt Stairs?
These questions and more to be answered in Game 5, The Sequel (sometime before spring training hopefully!) with the first pitch set for around 8:30 p.m., weather permitting! I hope this sequel is more like Mission Impossible 2 and not Major League 3 or Slap Shot 2.
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