MLB / Nick Shiambouros / 23 October 2008 / Leave a comment

Nick Shiambouros on the World Series odds ahead of game two.

Cole Hamels pitched a near perfect game to help the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 giving them a crucial lead in the World Series. In truth, the score does not reflect the superiority that the Phillies had over the Rays last night.

The Tampa hitting was very poor and Hamels was ahead in the count on most of the Rays batters. BJ Upton had a shocking evening and grounded in to a double play in the third inning when his side was trailing 2-0. Chase Utley put the Phillies ahead in the first inning with a two run homer and that gave Hamels a nice lead to protect which he did brilliantly.

If the Rays are going to get back in to this series then hitters like Upton, Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria will have to get back on track and show the form that got the Rays to the World Series. Last night those three did not have a single hit between them and if that form continues Philadelphia will win the series easily.

Tonight, James Shields is on the hill for the Rays and the sometimes wayward Brett Myers starts for Philadelphia in a must win game for Tampa.
Shields comes in to this game with an impressive season record of 14-8 and a ERA of 3.56. He has a very good change up which is his main weapon and a decent fast ball.

Myers, on the other hand, can be very wayward with his curve ball and this should give the Rays plenty of opportunities to get after him early on. In addition, Myers has a losing record in the regular season of 10-13.

I have to side with the Rays tonight and although [1.66] for the win is a little skinny they should take care of Philadelphia in this match up. The total run score of 8.5 is interesting as I think it could be a high scoring game and the odds of [2.14] look fair.

It really is crunch time for the Rays and with the fans ringing the now famous cowbells all night in the stadium to help them they should wake up tonight and put on a show to get back in to this series.