Tampa Bay Rays beaten by Philadelphia Phillies 6-7 – MLB Update
Tampa Bay Rays were beaten by Philadelphia Phillies 6-7 at Citizens Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Sunday June 23 in the opening game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
In a game that was played on a very competitive note, the Phillies showed great pressure handling abilities. Jeff Keppinger had an excellent time on the plate as he went 5 for 5 for the first time this season.
Keppinger doubled to deep left in the second inning to put the Rays 2-0 ahead. James Shields had an RBI groundout to extend Rays’ lead to 3-0.
Jimmy Rollins put Philadelphia on the board with a mighty home run to right in the third. Juan Pierre also joined the party, hitting a three run home run to right in the fourth to help the Phillies take a crucial 5-3 lead.
"I've got to do a better job," Papelbon said answering a question.
"That was a huge pickup by Jim Thome," Papelbon said. "I couldn't be happier for anybody in the clubhouse."
However, the star of the show was Jim Thome who a hit a tie breaking home run to left in the bottom of the ninth to lift Philadelphia to a much needed victory. Phillies’ relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon blew his first save in eighteen chances this season
"You never forget them," Thome said. "These are moments you never know how long you'll have them."
"That felt great," he added. "They put whipped cream instead of shaving cream so that was nice."
"Tip your hat to Thome. He hit a 96 mph fastball off a left-hander and they beat us," Rays manager Joe Maddon said in a post game interview.
Manager Joe Maddon will be very disappointed with Tampa Bay’s performances over the last few days ago. With just three wins in their last ten games, the Rays are now placed third on the American League East Division standings table.
Although they are just four games behind the league leaders New York Yankees, the Rays will have to bring significant improvement in their game play to turn things around.
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