Phillies Win 2008 World Series

On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Phillies won their first championship in 28 years, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, winning the series four games to one.

The winning run was scored in the bottom of the 7th inning, on an RBI single by Phillies' third baseman Pedro Feliz, scoring pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett, who pinch-ran for Pat Burrell, following Burrell's lead-off double, that just missed going over the fence for a home run.

Brad Lidge finished the game, and the season, for the Phillies, pitching the ninth inning, and getting his seventh save, in seven post-season opportunities, stranding Rays' Fernando Perez, who had stole second base, after entering the game as a pinch-runner for Rays' catcher Dionner Navarro, who had reached base on a broken-bat single to right field.

Game 5 will probably be remembered most for the unique set of circumstances of its beginning and end. The game was suspended shortly after 11 PM EDT on Monday, tied at 2-2, and not resumed until Wednesday, at 8:40 PM EDT. The suspension was the first in World Series' history.

Phillies' pitcher Cole Hamels was named 2008 World Series Most Valuable Player. He was 1-0 in the series, with a 2.77 ERA.

Hamels actually had an opportunity to be the winning pitcher in Game 5. Upon the game's resumption, Geoff Jenkins, who pinch-hit for Hamels in the bottom of the sixth inning, led off the inning with a double. This was followed by a Jimmy Rollins' sacrifice bunt, moving Jenkins to third base. Jenkins then scored on a ball hit by Jayson Werth to shallow center field, that eluded Rays' second baseman Aki Iwamura. The play was ruled a base hit, and an RBI for Werth, giving the Phillies a then 3-2 lead. However, in the top of the seventh inning, with Ryan Madson in relief for Hamels, Rays' Rocco Badelli hit a home run to left field that pulled the Rays even at 3-3, and left Hamels with a no-decision for the contest.

J.C. Romero, who won his second game in relief for the Phillies, was assisted mightily by his defense behind him. The first batter he faced, with two out in the top of the seventh inning, Iwamura, hit a ball behind second base for an infield hit. Second baseman Chase Utley, faked a throw to first, and then made a throw to home plate to cut down Rays' Jason Bartlett, who tried to score from second base on the play. Then, in the top of the eighth i nning, after Carl Crawford lead off the inning with a hit, B.J. Upton, on the first pitch of the at-bat, grounded into his fourth double play of the series, thereby allowing Romero and the Phillies to avoid major trouble.

Rays reliever J.P. Howell was charged with the Game 5 loss, his second loss in the series.