World Series Game Two - Rays 4, Phillies 2

Rays even series on errors by Werth, home plate umpire

It's time for some straight talk, my friends.

That was a terrible game - and a bullshit win. Can I say "bullshit" here? It doesn't matter, nobody's reading this. As great a game as game one was, this game was the total opposite - and not because the Phillies lost, but because the home plate umpire couldn't get out of his own way. Yet despite their failure (on a mammoth scale) to hit with runners in scoring position, the Phillies still had the tying run at the plate in the ninth.

On the other hand, because of their youth, it's likely the Rays have no clue how truly lucky they were to win that game. There is no arguing the fact that if Jayson Werth fields B.J. Upton's single in the first inning cleanly, then the Rays don't score on any of the next three ground ball outs (one of which might have been a double play). You could also make a good argument that if Kerwin Danley had the balls to continue with the strike out call on Rocco Baldelli that he started, which would have been the second out of the second inning, then the Rays don't score there either and the game is scoreless instead of 3-0, Rays. The run they scored in the fourth was just good baseball.

But none of this matters - not even the ridiculous "nope, sorry Jimmy, that ball didn't hit you" call by Danley with nobody out in the ninth - when the Phillies are 1-28 with runners in scoring position in these two games. That is truly inexplicable.

The bright spots were obvious - if few and far between. Carlos Ruiz turned in some truly remarkable at-bats Wednesday night, which could be a great sign not only for this series, but for next year as well. Shane Victorino continued to collect hits, which may put him back in the two-spot on Saturday. Plus, it is truly a pleasure to welcome the real Ryan Howard back. You were missed. If you have any information on the location of the real Jimmy Rollins, please let us know. By the way, I contacted the authorities about Pat Burrell and I was told I had to wait 48 more hours before filing a missing hitter report.

So what have we learned after these first two games? It's hard to say. Most of the "experts" felt that game one was a must win for the Phillies with Cole Hamels on the mound - and they won. These same experts then proclaimed game two a must win for the Rays because they couldn't afford to leave Tampa down 0-2 - and they won. I'm going to guess that game three will now be a must win for the Phillies so they don't relinquish home-field advantage and they might be right.

At the end of the day - or the beginning of this one - mrs. tmmullen and I both knew that if we wanted to attend a World Series game this year, the Phillies would have to lose at least once (we have tickets for game five). She commented on how odd it was to secretly hope that they would lose one just for that reason and I felt that same way. But I also confided in her - before the series started - that I thought the Rays might feast on a pitcher with a style like Brett Myers and that the Phillies might lose game two. Well, the bad news is that they lost game two, but the good news is that, well, Myers didn't pitch poorly at all. So if he needs to come back for a game six, I will have plenty of confidence in him.

But I'm thinking there won't be a game six: Jamie Moyer returns to form, Joe Blanton wins a slugfest, and then Hamels clinches it at home. Yeah, I'll say it: Phils in five.

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