EDS: Will be UPDATED.
By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Evan Longoria is 0-for-the World Series and the Tampa Bay Rays are sinking without his big bat.
The All-Star rookie slugger was taunted by raucous Philadelphia fans chanting “Eva, Eva, Eva” and continued to struggle at the plate Saturday night in a 5-4 loss that left the AL champions trailing the Phillies two games to one.
Longoria struck out twice before he narrowly missed hitting a two-run homer that would have put Tampa Bay ahead 3-2 in the sixth.
Instead, the ball stalled in the wind, left fielder Pat Burrell made the catch, and Philly fans mocked Longoria even more with references to the Desperate Housewives star, who is not related to the 22-year-old third baseman.
Longoria homered six times and drove in 11 runs in the first two rounds of the playoffs, however he’s 0-for-12 through the first three games of the World Series.
AL championship series.
Longoria is not alone. He, Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford were 1-for-23 entering Game 3. And while Crawford went 2-for-4 Saturday night, Pena fanned twice to finish 0-for-3 with a walk and is 0-for-10 in the World Series.
Much was made before the game about how the Rays might react to Philadelphia fans who are notoriously tough on opposing teams. But manager Joe Maddon insisted that wasn’t a concern because of the way his young team has handled other hostile environments, including Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium.
A bigger issue in his estimation was whether his hitters would have the patience necessary to be successful against Jamie Moyer, the Phillies’ 45-year-old starting pitcher who entices batters to swing at pitches out of the strike zone.
For the most part, they didn’t.
Moyer fanned Longoria twice and struck out Pena once, holding the Rays in check until the seventh inning when Crawford singled and Dioner Navarro doubled for just the fourth and fifth hits off the Philadelphia starter.
With the sluggers struggling, the Rays played small ball to overcome a 4-1 deficit. Crawford and Navarro scored on groundouts, then B.J. Upton tied it 4-all in the eighth when he reached on infield single and stole second and third before scoring on catcher Carlos Ruiz’s throwing error.
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