Defensive specialist raps out key hit in ninth SERIES NOTEBOOK

ARLINGTON, Texas — Brett Phillips was acquired by Tampa Bay in a trade with Kansas City in July. It seemed like a minor move right up until late Saturday night.

Phillips, 26, came up with the most important hit of his career in Game 4 of the World Series — a two-out single in the ninth that sent the Rays to a wild 8-7 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Phillips’ first career postseason hit drove in Kevin Kiermaier, tying it at 7. Randy Arozarena then scored the winning run when catcher Will Smith was unable to catch a throw to the plate.

“Man, baseball is fun,” Phillips said.

It was the first plate appearance for Phillips since Game 3 of the AL Division Series against the New York Yankees on Oct. 7. He entered Game 4 against the Dodgers in the eighth inning as a pinch runner.

“Brett Phillips … Put him on the roster for a defensive replacement, baserunner-type of guy. He knows his role,” Kiermaier said. “Comes up, biggest at-bat of his life, comes through.”

Phillips, a Seminole, Florida native, hit just .150 with one homer and three RBIs in 17 games with Tampa Bay during the regular season. He is a .202 career hitter in 153 big league games since his debut with Milwaukee in 2017.

Clayton’s turn

The Dodgers will have to bounce back quickly from their heartbreaking Game 4 loss. But at least they’ll have ace Clayton Kershaw on the mound when the series resumes Sunday night.

Los Angeles is looking to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Series as it tries for its first championship since 1988.

Kershaw, 32, who is from nearby Dallas has spent all 13 of his big league seasons with Los Angeles. The left-hander is an eight-time AllStar, three-time NL Cy Young Award winner and the 2014 NL MVP.

“When you’ve been working so long and so hard for one goal and it’s getting closer and closer with each win, it’s harder not to think about the end game and what that might be like,” he said. “But you just have to. … So for me at least, it’s just a constant focus on the next day, the next game, the next pitch. And you just have to remind yourself, you just have to, really discipline yourself to do it.”

Ji-man stretch

Ji-Man Choi focused on getting more flexible after dealing with some injuries in the minor leagues. Now the 6-foot-1-inch, 260-pound Rays first baseman is doing full splits in the World Series.

Tampa Bay fans have seen the Ji-Man stretches, but there is a much bigger audience for the World Series, where the South Korean did a full split to take the throw from shortstop Willy Adames for the first out in Game 3 on a grounder by Dodgers Mookie Betts.