Long waits can end all of a sudden.
That was the case for the Phillies and Philadelphia sports fans on a cold and glorious Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park. They had the stronger kick to the finish, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in Game 5 to win one of the craziest World Series in history.
Twice leadoff doubles set up run-scoring singles against drawn-in infields — a Jayson Werth bloop in the sixth inning and a Pedro Feliz grounder up the middle in the seventh — as the Phillies turned a 2-2 tie into a 4-3 victory in the first suspended game in the Series.
Because Philadelphia already was leading the Tampa Bay Rays three games to one when rain, wind and cold combined to stop Game 5 in the sixth inning Monday night, the mini-game staged Wednesday was enough to end the city’s so-called Curse of William Penn. It gives Philadelphia its first championship in a major sport since Dr. J’s 76ers won an NBA title in 1983.
The National League champs won all three games on their soggy home turf, ending a storybook season by the Rays, who never had won more than 70 games before this year. It was only the second championship in the 126-year history of the Phillies. The other came in 1980.
Given that the long wait ended with a short story — an exchange of 18 outs in front of a loud, nervous, heavily dressed crowd — it would have been appropriate if Eddie Gaedel had scored the winning run. But it was pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett who came across with the game-winner, scoring after Pat Burrell’s leadoff double in the seventh.
The guy who set the tone for the Phillies was Geoff Jenkins, who pinch hit for Cole Hamels as the game was resumed 46 hours after umpires had waved players off the field. He drove a deep double to right-center field, heeding the advice of teammate Jimmy Rollins.
“Before Jenks got that big double, I told him, ‘It’s not the bottom of the first, it’s the bottom of the sixth,'” Rollins said. “‘Act like it.'”
He did.
“Two-strike ball off the wall,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said of Jenkins’ hit. “That’s very unusual. … They beat us. They flat beat us tonight. I tip my cap to that whole group.”
The Rays, who had been on their heels since losing Game 1 to Hamels at Tropicana Field, struck back with Rocco Baldelli’s home run in their first time to the plate, the top of the seventh. But they lost a chance to add on when second baseman Chase Utley decoyed a throw to get Jason Bartlett to try to score from second on Akinori Iwamura’s infield single, and finally ran out of steam.
Brad Lidge, perfect in all 48 save chances this year, including seven in the playoffs, kept the tying run on second base in the ninth inning.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel hadn’t been happy after Game 5 was suspended Monday night, apparently angry at the effort of some of his players and that umpires had allowed the game to continue in sloppy conditions until a Carlos Pena single tied the score 2-2 in the sixth. But on Tuesday he said he knew his team would be prepared when the game resumed, and he was right.
“It’s over, man,” Rollins said. “Charlie did a great job of keeping us mentally prepared. He has done that all year long.”
Manuel’s job often has seemed in jeopardy during his four-year tenure, but he had the support of general manager Pat Gillick, who has said he will retire after this season.
Manuel kept his team moving forward, winning an NL East title in 2007 and then promising fans a longer playoff run after repeating in ’08. He kept his focus on that task even though his mother died Oct. 10, the day the Phillies were hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series.
“I always thought we’d win the World Series,” Manuel said afterward, speaking during the on-field celebration that followed Lidge striking out pinch-hitter Eric Hinske for the last out. “I thought we could beat anybody in the National League.”
Momentum had seemed to shift toward Tampa Bay when it got Game 5 tied before the interruption, but Manuel always knew the Phillies still had the advantage, if for no other reason than they got 12 outs Wednesday compared to nine for the Rays.
“I wouldn’t trade positions,” Manuel said early Wednesday. “Destiny is one thing, but if they’re destined, we want to definitely fight through destiny.”
They did that. And it turned out they did not need the extra outs.
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progers@tribune.com
