Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena dives into home to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning, capping Tampa Bay’s rally Saturday night for an 8-7 win over the Dodgers in Game 4 of the World Series in Arlington, Texas. David J. Phillip/Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Texas — Brett Phillips squatted on the field crying, Randy Arozarena sprawled in the dirt pounding his hands on home plate.
Tears of joy, smacks of celebration – and a crucial, wild win for the scrappy Tampa Bay Rays.
In one of the wildest World Series finishes ever, the light-hitting Phillips delivered a tying single off Kenley Jansen with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning that turned into the game-ending hit when the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the ball twice, allowing Arozarena to scramble home and lifting the Rays to an 8-7 victory Saturday night that suddenly evened things at two games each.
“Golly, what a special moment,” Phillips said.
Center fielder Chris Taylor misplayed Phillips’ ball in right-center and chased it down while Kevin Kiermaier scored the tying run. Arozarena kept charging around third base but stumbled and fell well before reaching home.
He was able to get up and score when catcher Will Smith looked up too early and missed the relay throw, letting it squirt toward the backstop while Arozarena dived on top of the plate.
“Once I saw Randy slip, I was like ‘Aw, shoot, at least we tied it up,’ and then (Smith) missed the ball,” Phillips said. “I don’t know what happened, but then he scored. The next thing I know, I’m airplaning around the outfield and I get dogpiled and here I am.”
Jansen came on in the ninth for the Dodgers and struck out Yoshi Tsutsugo before a single by Kiermaier, the longest-tenured Rays player. Arozarena, the rookie who earlier hit his postseason record ninth homer, drew a two-out, full-count walk to set up the wild final play.
“You got to stay positive,” Jansen said. “I didn’t give up one hard hit. What can I do? Throw the pitches where I wanted to. Credit to the hitters.”
A 26-year-old from Seminole, Florida, Phillips was drafted by Houston and played for Milwaukee and Kansas City before Tampa Bay acquired him in August for a minor leaguer. Touted for his outfield defense, he hasn’t hit much in the majors, ending the regular season with a career .202 average in 153 games. He had been 0 for 2 in the postseason and hadn’t batted since Game 3 of the AL Division Series on Oct. 7.
Phillips was left off the AL Championship Series roster but shined as a cheerleader, writing up phony scouting reports on a clipboard touting Arozarena before dancing against him in battles after the team locked up the AL pennant.
“What a great team effort on this win. It took almost 28 guys,” Phillips said. “That’s what special about this team. Just all come together, our one goal is to win. We don’t rely on one guy. It takes everyone, and man, baseball is fun.”
Corey Seager and Justin Turner each had four hits with a solo homer for the Dodgers, who nearly went into Game 5 on Sunday night with a 3-1 series lead. They’ll send three-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw to the mound on regular rest after winning Game 1 on Tuesday night.
Hunter Renfroe, Brandon Lowe and Kiermaier also homered for the Rays, who had gotten all of their runs on long balls until that last play. All their previous runs came during a frantic stretch when the teams combined to score in eight consecutive half-innings, a first in World Series history.
A solo homer by Kiermaier tied the game at 6 in the seventh, right after the first two lead changes in this entire World Series.
Lowe went the opposite way for the third time in this Series, his three-run homer to left in the bottom of the sixth putting the Rays up 5-4. A half-inning later, the second baseman was laying facedown in short right field after his diving attempt to catch pinch-hitter Joc Pederson’s liner, which skimmed off the top of his glove for a two-run single that put LA back ahead.
That was the first go-ahead pinch-hit in the World Series for the Dodgers since Kirk Gibson’s game-ending homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.
POWER NOTES
Turner became the first player to homer in the first inning of consecutive World Series games. His drive to straightaway center was his 12th career postseason homer, breaking a tie with Hall of Fame center fielder Duke Snider for the most in franchise history. Seager later matched Snider at 11, his homer in the third being his eighth this postseason to match the MLB record for all of an inning.
When Arozarena went deep, that left Seager tied with Nelson Cruz, Carlos Beltran and Barry Bonds for the second-most.
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