FREE TACO!

Perhaps the most interesting part of this game came in the fifth inning when Jason Bartlett stole 2nd Base and earned everyone in the country a free Taco Bell Taco. YOu can claim your 'stolen' taco on Tuesday October 28th between 2 and 6 pm.

Perhaps not.
Game One was the pitching duel that we were supposed to see. Kazmir did not have his best stuff as he is clearly suffering from some post-season jitters. His postseason ERA is almost one full run higher than his regular season stat. Kazmir gave up an early 2 run bomb to Chase Utley in the first inning but kept the Rays close, only giving up one more run in the 4th to give the Phillies 3 runs on the night. Hamels on the other hand went 7 strong innings. Giving up a solo shot to Crawford in the 4th and then an RBI double to Iwamura in the 5th are the only two blemishes appearing on his line.
So many times in this game did you think that the momentum was beginning to shift to the Rays but all were in vain. The leadoff hitter for the Rays reached on a brain fart by both Hamels and Howard and could have been a major turning point early. But Iwamura was erased on a double play one batter later. Then in the 2nd inning BJ Upton threw out Victorino on a potential sac fly by Rollins. The next inning the Phillies led off with a double but then followed with three straight outs to leave the runner stranded on third. In the bottom half BJ Upton again hit into a doupble play to end the inning. This time however it was with the bases loaded and a prime opportunity to score was trashed. Then in the top of the fourth the Phillies plated their leadoff batter to put the Rays in a 3-0 hole. But then the tide shifted. Or so i had hoped. Crawford hit a solo shot in the bottom of the inning. And then in the fifth Iwamura hit his RBI double to bring the Rays within one run. But in the sixth inning the Rays really seemed like they were going to start a rally after Ryan Howard booted a simple grounder and gave the Rays a leadoff runner. But on a non balk call by the umpire staff, Hamels erased the error by picking off Carlos Pena to stifle any further developments. This proved to be a game changer because after that point the Rays could not get any offense going and fell to the Phils 3-2 for a game one loss.