Phillips' dream comes true: 'Hard to believe'

Right fielder: 'To know the backstory, is to know the story'

October 25th, 2020

ARLINGTON -- grew up a Rays fan. He remembers shouting at the top of his lungs at every key moment in franchise history, including when the club made the World Series for the first time in 2008.

Phillips dreamed of playing for the Rays in a World Series, playing that scenario over and over again in his backyard. On Saturday, that dream came to life as Phillips delivered the most memorable play in franchise history, a two-out, game-tying RBI single followed by two Dodgers errors that gave Tampa Bay an 8-7, Game 4 victory over the Dodgers in one of the most improbable finishes in World Series history, tying the Fall Classic at two games apiece.

"To know the backstory, is to know the story," Phillips said. "When these guys were in the World Series, I was in eighth grade watching them. And now to be a part of it, helping these guys win a World Series game, it's special."

Down 7-6 in the ninth, the Rays desperately needed a hero. Phillips, now 26, was ready to be one. No matter that he hadn't had an at-bat in 17 days. No matter that he had been used primarily as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement since being acquired from the Royals on Aug. 27. No matter that he hadn't had a hit in a month.

Phillips dug into the batter's box against Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen with , who had singled, on second base and , who had walked, on first. There were two outs.

Jansen started him with a cutter inside for ball one, then got two questionable called strikes -- a second cutter in and a sinker off the outside corner. Down to his last strike, Phillips laced yet another cutter, this one catching too much of the plate, into right-center field.

"What a moment for him to step up to the plate in the biggest at-bat of his life with the game on the line and come through for us," Kiermaier said. "It's a moment that no one will ever be able to take away from him and I'm so proud of him for coming up huge and winning the ballgame for us. Absolutely incredible."

Dodgers center fielder Chris Taylor had the ball bounce off his glove and up into the air. Kiermaier had scored easily to tie it, but the misplay allowed Arozarena to take a chance at scoring the game-winning run. Third-base coach Rodney Linares saw an opportunity to test the Dodgers' defense, waving Arozarena around third.

"There was no hesitation," Linares said. "As soon as I saw Randy hit second and I saw the ball come up, I'm like, 'We should take a chance right here.' It's mostly instincts."

"All I was thinking about was just running hard," Arozarena added. "Run hard, as hard as I could."

Arozarena ran so fast, in fact, that he stumbled as he stepped on the third-base bag. It felt like things were happening in slow motion as Arozarena rolled to the ground. Linares said he blacked out as Arozarena went down.

As Arozarena clamored back to his feet, Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy cut off Taylor's throw, rifling the relay to catcher Will Smith. If Smith secures the throw, the Dodgers have Arozarena scrambling back toward third in a rundown. Instead, the ball ricocheted off Smith's glove, hit the home-plate umpire and rolled away just far enough to allow Arozarena to reverse course, race for home and slide in head first, safe, pounding the plate in joy.

Phillips, who had advanced to second when he saw that the throw was going home could not believe his eyes.

"Honestly, it's just hard to believe right now that that just happened," Phillips said. "Once I saw Randy slip, I thought, 'Oh, shoot at least we tied it up.' And then he missed the ball. I didn't know what happened, and then he scored and the next thing I know, I'm airplane-ing around the outfield and getting dog-piled and now here I am talking to the boys."

It was just two weeks ago that Phillips was left off the American League Championship Series roster, spending the series as a "coach" on the Rays' bench, holding up a whiteboard with inspirational messages for his teammates.

"It didn't matter that I didn't have an at-bat in the last two weeks, because I wouldn't be on the roster for the World Series if they didn't believe I could help them win in any way," Phillips said. "I know there are some guys out there with really slow heart rates that have been in this situation many times before and it's just like another day for them. But for myself, it's not, and I'm going to enjoy the heck out of it."

As Phillips entered the dugout after the top of the ninth, field coordinator Paul Hoover grabbed the Rays' outfielder and told him he was going to win the game for Tampa Bay. Phillips' shouted "Let's go!" and went into the batting cage to get a few swings in.

As Phillips was warming up, Kiermaier got the ninth-inning rally started with a one-out single. After Joey Wendle flew out to left field for the second out, Arozarena had the first opportunity to be the hero. Instead, Arozarena continued to show his impressive plate discipline, laying off a pair of close pitches from Jansen and drawing a seven-pitch walk.

"Randy has all the potential in the world to win that game for us by hitting a homer," Phillips said. "But he takes a great at-bat, he lays off some really tough pitches, and he lets the guy behind him be the hero. And that's what makes this team so special."

The person behind Arozarena just happened to be Phillips.

"It was just awesome. I'm so happy for him," manager Kevin Cash said. "We're all happy for him. From the day that we acquired him and he joined our club, he's just brought constant energy, a great teammate. Hasn't had the most opportunities, but when he's got in there, he's done some things -- none bigger than that hit right there, for sure. Local guy, too. That adds to it, I think. That helps."

There's just something about these Rays. And now they're two wins away from winning the first World Series title in franchise history.

"The baseball gods were on our side," Kiermaier said. "I was the happiest man on the plate to see Randy score as well, just so the game could be over with. Just truly incredible. I don't know if anything like that has ever happened, especially in the World Series. I don't know if we'll see it ever again. We were all a part of it. What an incredible moment to be a part of."

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com