San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
RAYS WIN IN WILD FINISH
Winning run scores from first on a single as L.A. bungles play
Brett Phillips squatted on the field crying, and Randy Arozarena was on the ground slapping his hands on home plate.
Tears of joy, smacks of celebration — and a crucial, wild win for the scrappy Tampa Bay Rays.
Light-hitting Phillips delivered a tying single off Kenley Jansen with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning that turned into the game-ending hit when the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the ball twice, allowing Arozarena to score and lift the Rays to an 8-7 victory Saturday night to even this suddenly dramatic World Series at two games each.
“Golly, what a special moment,” Phillips said.
Center fielder Chris Taylor misplayed Phillips’ ball in rightcenter for an error and chased it down while Kevin Kiermaier scored the tying run. Arozarena kept charging around third base but stumbled and fell well before reaching home.
He was able to get up and score when catcher Will Smith
looked up too early and missed the relay throw, letting it squirt toward the backstop while Arozarena dived on top of the plate.
“Once I saw Randy slip, I was like ‘Aw, shoot, at least we tied it up,’ and then he missed the ball,” Phillips said. “I don’t know what happened but then he scored. The next thing I know, I’m airplaneing around the outfield and I get dogpiled and here I am.”
Jansen came on in the ninth for the Dodgers and struck out Yoshi Tsutsugo before a single by Kiermaier, the longest-tenured Rays player. Arozarena, the rookie who earlier hit his postseason record ninth homer earlier, drew a two-out, full-count walk to set up the wild final play.
A 26-year-old from Seminole, Fla., Phillips was drafted by Houston and played for Milwaukee and Kansas City before Tampa Bay acquired him in August for a minor leaguer. Touted for his outfield defense, he hasn’t hit much in the majors, ending the regular season with a career .202 average in 153 games. He had been 0for-2 in the postseason and hadn’t batted since Game 3 of the AL Division Series on Oct. 7.
Phillips was left off the AL Championship Series roster but shined as a cheerleader, writing up phony scouting reports on a clipboard touting Arozarena before dancing against him in battles after the team locked up the AL pennant.
“What a great team effort on this win. It took almost 28 guys,” Phillips said. “That’s what special about this team. Just all come together, our one goal is to win. We don’t rely on one guy. It takes everyone, and man, baseball is fun.”
In the eighth, Corey Seager’s fourth hit of the night, a bloop single with two out, gave the Dodgers a 7-6 lead.
A half-inning earlier, Kevin Kiermaier hit Tampa Bay’s fourth homer of the night to pull the Rays into a 6-6 tie.
Los Angeles went ahead 6-5 in the top of the inning on a two-run pinch-hit single by Joc Pederson. That two-out hit came the inning after Brandon Lowe’s three-run homer gave the Rays their first lead of the night.
With one out and runners on first and second, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Blake Treinen and put in Pedro Baez. Lowe then greeted Baez with a drive to left-center for his third homer of the Series.
Randy Arozarena and Hunter Renfroe also connected for Tampa Bay.