Phillies, Rays still waiting to resume Game Five

Oct 29, 2008 - 11:45 AM World Series Game Five Phillies lead 3-1

Tampa Bay at Philadelphia 8:37 p.m. EDT

Mother Nature continues to wreak havoc on the World Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays hope to finally resume Game Five on Wednesday after the contest was suspended on Monday.

With the teams tied at 2-2, the contest was officially suspended midway through the sixth inning due to heavy rain at Citizens Bank Park. The rain gradually got heavier throughout the game and the temperature dropped into the high 30s.

Commissioner Bud Selig had hoped to resume the contest Tuesday, but local forecasts called for wind-driven rain with possible wet snow to plague the area all night.

"While obviously we want to finish Game Five as soon as possible, the forecast for today does not allow for us to continue the game this evening," Selig said in a statement on Tuesday. "We are closely monitoring tomorrow's forecast and will continue to monitor the weather on an hourly basis.

"We will advise fans as soon as we are able to make any final decisions with respect to tomorrow's schedule."

The game tentatively has been rescheduled for Wednesday at 8:37 p.m. EDT, when the forecast calls for a few showers and temperatures in the high 30s.

The Phillies, seeking their first championship in 28 years, own a three-games-to-one lead in the series. Philadelphia has not won a major professional sports title since 1983.

"All year long we've been in a situation where we can control our destiny and it's no different," Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. "It's up to us to stay focused and definitely stay focused on tomorrow's game, to win that game.

"And if something happens and if we don't get the job done or something, I have no complaints at all, because it's in our hands, it's all up to us to do it."

The Phillies were well on their way toward ending both droughts Monday, as Shane Victorino's two-run single gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

But after halving the deficit, Tampa Bay rallied to forge a 2-2 tie in the driving rain when Carlos Pena plated B.J. Upton with an RBI hit off Phillies lefthander Cole Hamels in the top of the sixth.

"(Hamels) has been so good, and to scratch out the runs that we've had has been very difficult," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "Of course, their bullpen has been magnificent, also. So it's not going to be an easy task by any means. But we have a lot of our bullpen fresh, now, too. So getting him out is important."

Should Philadelphia have remained in the lead, the game would have gone into an indefinite delay. Instead, the teams will need to regroup.

"I don't think there's going to be any problem at all," Manuel said. "I think we've been resilient now for the last couple of years. I think we know exactly where we're going and what we want to do. We're going to be ready."

When the game resumes, Hamels is set to lead off. The Phillies are expected to send up a pinch-hitter against Grant Balfour, who had previously relieved starter Scott Kazmir.

"Of course, Grant is still in the game. They've got Hamels coming up, and everybody will attempt to make whatever at that particular juncture," Maddon said. "And again, everybody is kind of pretty much going to be back at ground zero. We're going to have rested bullpens, people have rested starters for games in the future. All that stuff is in order.

"It's just going to come down, obviously, to three and a half innings to play. Hopefully that's all it's going to take."