PHILADELPHIA — Meet the new Mr. October: Double Doppler.
The World Series creeps toward Halloween, becoming stranger and weirder by the minute.
The first-ever suspended World Series game was postponed again Tuesday and is scheduled to resume at 6:37 p.m. tonight on KDVR-31, if no longer hijacked by the weather.
The Rays are in Delaware. The Phillies are in disbelief. The teams will bundle up tonight for baseball’s version of the NHL shootout — a 3 1/2-inning battle of the bullpens.
“I have never been through anything like this,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said Tuesday. “I spoke to our team after the game based on the unusual nature of events. I believe we are unified and that we will react to this situation well.”
Philadelphia and Tampa Bay are tied 2-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. When play resumes, Rays reliever Grant Balfour will face a pinch-hitter for Cole Hamels — either Matt Stairs, Geoff Jenkins or Greg Dobbs.
With a win, the Phillies claim their first championship since 1980. Manager Charlie Manuel tried to put a happy face on this drama in a city where fans are livid about baseball’s handling of Watergate.
“We feel strong, like we can win,” Manuel said. “It’s up to us. It’s all in our hands to do it, to get the job done.”
Manuel admitted he was upset Monday “with some of the things that went on.” Manuel declined to go into specifics, but as his conference call wore on Tuesday, sticking points emerged. Acknowledging that he knew the game was going to be played nine innings if suspended — even though neither he or Maddon told their players — Manuel questioned why the game wasn’t stopped when the Rays’ B.J. Upton stole second base during the sixth inning prior to being driven home on Carlos Peña’s single.
“That tells you the condition of the field if you watch (the replay of the slide),” said Manuel, who also believes shortstop Jimmy Rollins would have thrown out Upton on his infield single moments earlier if not for the damp ball. “Everybody has an opinion on what should have been done. I am the manager, so I am biased.”
Commissioner Bud Selig will not shift the series to Tampa Bay even if the game can’t be played tonight, saying, “We will celebrate Thanksgiving here if we have to.” The Rays made the best of a chaotic night, arriving at a hotel in Delaware around 2 a.m. since they already had checked out of their Philadelphia digs.
It has been nothing if not a “bizarre” series, as Phillies second baseman Chase Utley labeled it. Many of the runs have come from outs and errors, there have been two admitted blown calls by umpires, and rain has marred Game 3 and Game 5. Game 3 didn’t start until 10:06 p.m. EDT and finished at 1:47 a.m., leading to the Series’ lowest TV ratings ever.
Confusion reigned in Game 5 with players confessing they were unaware Selig was committed to playing a full nine innings regardless of the score.
Maddon will rely on relievers to finish Game 5. Manuel said he will use his bullpen as well, with Chad Durbin the likely replacement for Hamels.
“We have been resilient all year,” Manuel concluded. “We will be ready.”
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
WORLD SERIES
Phillies lead 3-1
Game 1 @ Tampa Bay
Phillies 3, Rays 2
Game 2 @ Tampa Bay
Rays 4, Phillies 2
Game 3 @ Philadelphia
Phillies 5, Rays 4
Game 4 @ Philadelphia
Phillies 10, Rays 2
Game 5 Today, 6:37 p.m.
@ Philadelphia, completion of game suspended because of rain after 5½ innings.
Game 6 TBA, 6:35 p.m.
@ Tampa Bay, if necessary
Phillies’ Brett Myers (10-13, 4.55) vs. Rays’ James Shields (14-8, 3.56)
Game 7 TBA, 6:29 p.m.
@ Tampa Bay, if necessary
Pitchers TBA
(All games on KDVR-31)
