On this date in 2008: The Phillies take a 3-1 lead in the World Series with a 10-2 rout of the Rays in Game 4. Held in check for most of the series to that point, the offense turned on the power with four home runs and also picked up four hits with runners in scoring position after going a combined 2-for-33 over the first three games. Ryan Howard hit two of those homers, a three-run shot in the fourth inning and a two-run blast in the eighth. His five RBI tied the clubs postseason record originally set by Milt Thompson in Game 4 of the 1993 World Series. Jayson Werth also smashed a two-run homer in the eighth, but the most memorable roundtripper for the Phils was a solo shot off the bat of winning pitcher Joe Blanton in the fifth. It was just the second hit for Blanton in 25 combined regular and postseason at-bats in 2008 and the first World Series home run by a pitcher since Ken Holtzman of the As did it in 1974. On the mound, Blanton struck out seven while allowing two runs on four hits over six innings before Chad Durbin, Scott Eyre, Ryan Madson, and J.C. Romero kept Tampa Bay off the board the rest of the way. Pat Burrell (bases-loaded walk in the first) and Pedro Feliz (RBI single in the third) provided the runs that stayed in the ballpark as the Phillies closed to within a victory of the franchises second World Championship
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 18:34:51 +0000