PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The way manager Joe Maddon made it sound, his Tampa Bay Rays were pretty cozy down in Delaware.
They found a warm, comfortable hotel and enjoyed an unexpected day off with their families. Whenever the World Series finally resumes, that’ll be just fine with them.
“Quite frankly it’s one of the nicest hotels we’ve stayed in all year,” Maddon said Tuesday on a conference call. “If you’re going to have to have a postponement, you might as well stay here.”
Suspended after 5 1/2 innings Monday night because of rain, Game 5 between the Rays and Phillies is scheduled to pick up Wednesday at 8:37 p.m. in Philadelphia – weather permitting. The score is tied 2-all, and Tampa Bay must win to force a sixth game back home at Tropicana Field.
The showers Monday night extended into Tuesday, and snow was a possibility Wednesday. Maddon and his young team were riding out the storm at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Del., about 25 miles south of Philly.
“I referred to it as kind of like getting snowed in, if I could go back to my roots,” said Maddon, raised in nearby Hazleton, Pa. “On the days that it snows too much or the weather is so bad everybody can’t go outside, everybody kind of gathers.”
The Rays checked out of their Philadelphia hotel before Game 5 began, so when it was suspended they scrambled to find fill-in accommodations. The team bused from Citizens Bank Park to its new digs, arriving about 2 a.m. on Tuesday.
Maddon credited traveling secretary Jeff Ziegler with keeping everything organized “in spite of all the chaos in front of us.”
“They did a tremendous job of pulling it off,” Maddon said. “Everybody was milling around the hotel lobby, which is a magnificent lobby, waiting patiently for their keys. The bags were already here. They did a great job of getting the bags off the plane and they were here when we arrived.”
In the morning, Maddon went down to the lobby for coffee and ran into plenty of familiar faces.
“There were a bunch of Rays folks down there having a good time. Families together and a bunch of kids still with us. I don’t know, it was one of those moments when the organization comes together,” he said.
out and walk around a bit if the wind dies down.”
Bench coach Dave Martinez went off to get dry clothes for his children because they got soaked in the steady rain Monday night.
Maddon planned to rent a car and drive back to Philadelphia to see his kids, who were staying at his niece’s house.
And the Rays set up an optional bus to the ballpark for any players who wanted to throw or hit, or needed treatment on nagging injuries.
“It’s my guess it’s going to be a very small turnout, if at all. I’m fine with that. Tomorrow we’ll be out in plenty of time to do all the things we need to do to get ready to play the game,” Maddon said. “The back and forth, our schedule, just getting a rest right now is about as important as anything. I know I’ve been sleeping like a bear myself, just trying to catch up.”
As far as returning to the field, Maddon declined to discuss much strategy. He reiterated that he’ll stick with relievers the rest of the way in Game 5 rather than pitch rested starter James Shields.
Right-hander Grant Balfour is in the game for the Rays, but he could be removed right away when the Phillies send up a pinch hitter for ace Cole Hamels to begin the bottom of the sixth.
Tampa Bay rallied to tie it in the top half before the game was suspended, and Maddon thinks the wait might help his team.
an easy task,” he said. “I think us coming back like we did and sitting on it for a day or two possibly could weigh in our favor a little bit. I’m not sure yet. But I think the most important part of it is that both bullpens are rested. There’s no telling what’s going to happen at this point.”
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