ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — When stalking ghosts, it doesn’t hurt to use props.
When the Philadelphia Phillies arrived for practice Tuesday at the Tropicana Dome, they found rubber ducks in their locker cubicle. The toys, colored green with paisleys, brought a message. The World Series wasn’t all it was quacked up to be.
“It was a reminder to relax,” second baseman Chase Utley said.
Steered by their pulseless stars, the Phillies squeaked out a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays tonight in the World Series opener.
The team that has won the first game has gone on to claim the title 61 percent of the time, a good omen for a Phillies franchise that hasn’t held the trophy since 1980.
Maybe all the Phillies needed was the right guys to show them how to unclench their fists of frustration and angst.
Utley reacted to playing in the World Series like he was taking BP up the road at the Phillies’ Clearwater complex, showing no ill effects from the six-day layoff.
Unbothered by the Rays’ seismic shift against him — three infielders on the right side, the third baseman shaded up the middle — Utley lined a home run in his first at-bat in the first inning, making a 92 mph fastball from starter Scott Kazmir disappear into the right-field seats.
In many ways, Utley is a left-handed hitting Garrett Atkins. Both are calmer than a lagoon, former UCLA teammates and, not surprisingly, good friends. Atkins was the best man in Utley’s wedding. Atkins talked Wednesday about the importance of keeping the same routine to temper the added excitement of the World Series.
While Utley was calm, no one was cooler than Cole Hamels. He is this fall’s Josh Beckett. For the fourth time in four starts this postseason, Hamels won. For the fourth time, he worked at least seven innings and surrendered two runs or less. On this night his line was terrific: seven innings, five strikeouts and just two runs, on a Carl Crawford home run and an Akinori Iwamura double.
All Hamels needed was Utley’s big swing and a small-ball fourth inning that included two catchers — designated hitter Chris Coste and Carlos Ruiz — moving runners over and the latter plating one with a groundball to shortstop.
Hamels, the postseason’s best pitcher, doused promising rallies at the expense of the postseason’s best hitter. In the third inning, with the sellout crowd begging to go hoarse with cheers, Hamels faced Tampa Bay’s Justin Upton with the bases loaded. Upton has seven playoff home runs. All he had Wednesday was agony. He grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Colorado’s own Brad Lidge netted his 47th consecutive save.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
