ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -Chase Utley hit a two-run homer and Cole Hamels pitched out of trouble several times, giving the Philadelphia Phillies a 3-2 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays after six innings in the World Series opener Wednesday night.
Carl Crawford homered for the Rays and Akinori Iwamura had an RBI double in the fifth, his third hit of the game.
Hamels escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third when B.J. Upton grounded sharply into an inning-ending double play, his second of the night. Third baseman Pedro Feliz made a nice stab to start it.
Upton showed off his strong arm in center field, throwing out speedy Shane Victorino at the plate on a shallow fly ball to end the second.
Upton stranded the potential tying run at second in the fifth when he fouled out to first baseman Ryan Howard, who reached into the stands for a fine grab.
by Hamels – with a strong throw to second by Howard.
Rays manager Joe Maddon screamed at umpires from the dugout, calling for a balk.
The Phillies were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, but that included an RBI groundout by Carlos Ruiz that made it 3-0 in the fourth.
Tampa Bay starter Scott Kazmir allowed six hits and four walks. He was lifted after the sixth.
Crawford connected with two outs in the fourth on a hanging breaking ball, Tampa Bay’s 23rd homer of the postseason and his first.
In the fifth, Jason Bartlett walked with two outs and stole second before Iwamura’s double to left-center cut it to 3-2.
After eliminating Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL playoffs, the Phillies are looking for their second World Series title. Playing their 126th season, the lone championship came in 1980.
In fact, the Phillies have more losses than any franchise in pro sports. And the city of Philadelphia hasn’t had a major pro sports title to celebrate since the NBA’s 76ers won it all 25 years ago.
The Rays also have a history of losing, though it’s a much shorter one. Tampa Bay never won more than 70 games in its first 10 seasons before surging to the AL pennant this year with playoff series wins over the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox.
worst record.
Fans have taken notice, too. The sold-out crowd at quirky Tropicana Field included several folks sporting mohawks – just like Maddon.
Jayson Werth drew a one-out walk from Kazmir in the first inning and Utley pulled a 2-2 pitch into the right-field stands for his second home run this postseason.
During the regular season, Kazmir allowed only one homer to a left-handed hitter in 131 at-bats. Boston slugger David Ortiz connected off the hard-throwing lefty on Sept. 15.
Utley became the 34th player to homer in his first World Series at-bat. Dustin Pedroia and Bobby Kielty did it last year for Boston against Colorado.
Iwamura reached on an infield single to open the bottom half when Howard curiously held onto a grounder rather than flip to Hamels for what probably would have been a close play. Instead, Iwamura easily beat Howard in a foot race to the bag.
But the defensive lapse didn’t cost Hamels, who quickly induced a double-play grounder from Upton.
Kazmir walked two in the second, loading the bases for 2007 NL MVP Jimmy Rollins. He lifted a shallow fly to center and Victorino tested Upton, who threw a one-hop strike to the plate for an inning-ending double play.
Kazmir pumped his first and Upton received hearty congratulations in the dugout.
stranded at third when Kazmir fanned Howard and Pat Burrell.
Both high school left-handers, Kazmir and Hamels were selected two picks apart in the 2002 amateur draft and comparisons have followed ever since.
Hamels, the NLCS MVP against Los Angeles, went 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA in three playoff starts. He was working on six days’ rest after winning the clincher against the Dodgers.
Kazmir pitched six shutout innings of two-hit ball in his previous start, Game 5 of the ALCS against Boston.
Backup catcher Chris Coste was Philadelphia’s designated hitter. Maddon made a surprise move before the series even began, starting utility man Ben Zobrist in right field against Hamels rather than Rocco Baldelli or Fernando Perez.
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