Rays Even Series!

The Tampa Rays behind the pitching of James Shields and a squeeze bunt executed perfectly defeated the Philladelphia Phillies 4-2 and evened the World Series at a game a piece.

   The Rays did not waste any time scoring, as they scored twice off Brett Myers in the first inning. Akinori Iwamura walked, B.J.Upton singled, both runners moved up on a Jayson Werth error before Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria had RBI ground outs to give the Rays a 2-0 lead. Myers now has an era of 9.00 including the post season in the first inning.  The Rays would make it 3-0 in the third inning as Upton's RBI hit would drive in Jason Bartlett. Bartlett would make it 4-0 as a safety squeeze would score the game's fourth run. 

  James Shields would scatter 7 hits in 5.2 innings to get the win. Dan Wheeler worked a scoreless inning and then David Price allowed two runs in the final two and a third innings. Eric Bruntlett's pinch hit home run made it 4-1 and then the Phills would cut it to 4-2 on a Evan Longoria error.  Price would strike out tying run Ryan Howard to end the game. 

   The Rays were led offensively by a trio of players with two hits. B.J. Upton, Navarro and Bartlett accounted for six of the Rays seven hits. The other belonged to DH Cliff Floyd. 

   The story of this game once again was the Phillies inability to drive in runners in the clutch. The Phills had seven hits off Shields, but could only manage a infield hit by Shane Victorino with runners in scoring position. Victorino and Ryan Howard had two hits a piece for Philly.Carlos Ruiz was two for two with a pair of walks in the losing effort.   The series is now tied at one and will shift to Philly after a travel day Friday. Jamie Moyer will face ALCS MVP Matt Garza in Game 3. First pitch is set for 8:25.