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ARLINGTON, Texas – Brett Phillips squatted on the field crying, Randy Arozarena sprawled on the ground slapping the plate with his hands.
Tears of joy, the smell of celebration, and a crucial and crazy victory for the Tampa Bay Rays fighters.
In one of the wildest finals of the World Series, Phillips, a light hitter, delivered a tying single to Kenley Jansen with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning that became the final hit of the game when the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the ball twice, allowing Arozarena to come home and leading the Rays to an 8-7 victory Saturday night that suddenly tied things at two games apiece.
“Gee, what a special moment,” Phillips said.
The Dodgers led 7-6 when center fielder Chris Taylor misplayed Phillips’ ball to right center on an error and chased after it as Kevin Kiermaier scored the tying run. Arozarena kept charging around third base, but stumbled and fell long before he got home.
He was able to get up and score when catcher Will Smith looked up too early and missed the relief pitch, letting it shoot over the back as Arozarena dived over the plate.
“Once I saw Randy slip, I thought, ‘Oh, shoot, at least we tied him,’ and then he missed the ball,” said Phillips, who had entered the game as a pinch runner in the eighth. “I don’t know what happened, but then he scored. The next thing I know, I’m flying around the gardens and they pile me up and here I am. “
Arozarena said he was trying to go back to third after falling.
“We had already tied the game. I was trying to get into a summary, ”Arozarena said through a translator. “So obviously once the ball passed it, I turned around and scored.”
Jansen entered the ninth for the Dodgers and struck out Yoshi Tsutsugo before a single off a broken bat by Kiermaier, the Rays’ longest-serving player. Arozarena, the rookie who previously hit his ninth postseason home run, walked with two outs and a full count to set up the unlikely final play.
“You have to stay positive,” Jansen said. “I didn’t hit hard. What I can do? Throw the pitches where you want. Credit to batters. “
Phillips, a 26-year-old from Seminole, Florida, was selected by Houston and played for Milwaukee and Kansas City before being acquired by his home team Rays in August by a minor league player. Promoted for his speed and defense in the outfield, he hasn’t hit much in the majors, finishing the regular season with a .202 average in 153 games.
He was 0-for-2 in the postseason and hadn’t hit since Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Oct. 7. His last hit was a month ago, on September 25.
Phillips was left off the American League Championship Series roster, but shone as a cheerleader, writing bogus scouting reports on a clipboard promoting Arozarena before dancing against him in battles after the team closed the pennant for the American League.
“What a great team effort in this victory. It took almost 28 guys, ”Phillips said. “That is what is special about this team. All together, our only goal is to win. We do not trust one man. Everyone is needed, and man, baseball is fun. “
Corey Seager and Justin Turner had four hits with a solo home run for the Dodgers, who nearly entered Game 5 Sunday night with a 3-1 series lead. They will send three-time National League Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw to the mound on regular rest after winning Game 1 Tuesday night.
Cody Bellinger, a Gold Glove finalist in center field, was traded to designated hitter just over an hour before the game due to a stiff back, trading places with AJ Pollock in the lineup. Taylor, also second baseman, started in left field and moved to center after Joc Pederson pinch-hitted for Pollock in the seventh and then took over left. Only Taylor was charged with a mistake on the last play.
Turner said there was no way Dodgers catcher Smith knew Arozarena went down.
“I was trying to catch the ball and put a quick tag. If he had known he fell, he probably would have taken his time and made sure to catch him, ”Turner said. “I’m not sure what happened downtown. That is unusual for us. “
Hunter Renfroe, Brandon Lowe and Kiermaier also homered for the Rays, who had all of their runs on long balls until the last play. Those home runs came during a hectic stretch as teams combined to score over eight consecutive half innings, the first time in World Series history.
A solo home run by Kiermaier, with the Rays since 2013, tied the game at 6 in the seventh, just after the first two lead changes in this entire World Series.
Lowe went deep the wrong way for the third time in this Series, his three-run homer to the left in the bottom of the sixth put the Rays up 5-4. Half an inning later, the second baseman lay facedown in short right field after his attempt to dive to catch Pederson’s liner, which slipped off the top of the glove for a two-run single that put LA back. ahead.
That was the first pinch-hitter in the World Series for Los Angeles since Kirk Gibson’s final home run in Game 1 in 1988.
This final had a drastically different sentiment for the Dodgers.
“It’s tough and we have to digest it, but we have to turn the page,” manager Dave Roberts said. “This is definitely a tough one, but I know our guys. … We are very resistant. “
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