Paul Hagen: Phillies take advantage of Rays manager Maddon's strategy

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Second inning, bases loaded, one out with speedy Phillies centerfielder Shane Victorino on third.

Even though it was early in the game, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon moved his infield in. It didn't turn out to matter because Jimmy Rollins flied out to shallow center and B.J. Upton gunned down Victorino when he tagged up and tried to score.

Fourth inning, runners on

second and third, one out. Again, Victorino was on third.

This time, though, Maddon kept his infield back.

"I saw that right away," Carlos Ruiz said. "I saw the second baseman and the shortstop were back. That was a big RBI right there [with the Phillies already leading, 2-0] and I knew all I had to do was put the ball in play."

Rays starter Scott Kazmir threw a slider and Ruiz served it to shortstop Jason Bartlett. Victorino scored easily with what turned out to be the winning run in the Phillies' 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the World Series last night at Tropicana Field.

Maddon defended his decision to basically concede a run.

"They're second and third, that makes a difference," he said. "If there's only a runner on third base, I would have brought the infield in. When you have two runners out there who could potentially score if the infield is drawn in, you don't like it nearly as much.

"So, I mean, it definitely would have been in if there was a runner on third base only. Once they get to second and third and there's a potential for two runs scoring, drawing the infield in is not nearly as attractive."

* What: Rays manager Joe Maddon decided to start Ben Zobrist, who was hitless in four postseason at-bats, in rightfield instead of Gabe Gross or Rocco Baldelli.

What happened: Zobrist went 1-for-3, but didn't really play a role in the outcome.

* What: Phillies manager

Charlie Manuel started Chris Coste, who had just one at-bat in the playoffs, at designated hitter. That left him vulnerable to having to let his pitcher bat if Carlos Ruiz was hurt.

What happened: The good news is that Ruiz avoided injury. But Coste went 0-for-4.

* What: Manuel batted Jayson Werth second and Shane Victorino sixth instead of the other way around.

What happened: Werth had two doubles, a walk, a stolen base and scored a run. Victorino had two hits and also scored once.

When Chase Utley, a lefthanded hitter, came to the plate against Rays lefthanded starter Scott Kazmir in the first inning, the Phillies had Jayson Werth on first base with one out.

The Rays packed the right side of the infield by swinging shortstop Jason Bartlett to the right side of second base. It's an

alignment teams routinely use against Ryan Howard, but only rarely against Utley.

On the first pitch, Utley tried to beat the shift by dropping a bunt to the left side, but fouled the pitch off.

On a 2-2 count, he did beat the shift . . . by slamming a fastball that tailed back over the plate

into the rightfield seats.

"I guess it turned out pretty well," Utley said. "The third baseman was playing shortstop, so I figured with a guy on first and one out, I'd try to create something."

* After Chase Utley's home run, the Fox cameras caught him going over to Matt Stairs as soon as he got back to the dugout and having an animated conversation. Could it be that Stairs picked up something about Scott Kazmir and passed it along?

* Phillies pitchers vs. B.J. Upton. The Rays centerfielder started play last night with seven home runs in the postseason, one short of the record set by Barry Bonds of the Giants in 2002 and tied by Houston's Carlos Beltran in 2004.

.000: Phillies team batting average with runners in scoring position. That's 0-for-13.

3: Strikeouts for Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard.

9: Doubleplays turned by the Phillies in the last six postseason games.

.107: Batting average of shortstop Jimmy Rollins (3-for-28) since the end of the division series against Milwaukee.

There had been speculation around baseball that Pat Gillick, who has announced his retirement effective at the end of the World Series, might be interested in returning to the Toronto Blue Jays as club president. Paul Beeston took that job recently. There had been some thought he might want to return to the Seattle Mariners as general manager. Brewers scouting director Jack Zduriencik filled that opening yesterday.

But Gillick insisted last night that he's not having any second thoughts about his decision to step down.

"No," he said simply.

Phillies bench coach Jimy Williams has strong connections to the Rays organization. One of his sons Brady, was a coach for Tampa Bay's Vero Beach affiliate this year and next season will manage at Hudson Valley. Another son, Shawn, batted .278 as a first and third baseman for the Columbus Catfish.

"Brady is 29, the same age I was when I started managing," the proud father said. "It's an exciting time in our household. "I told Brady, 'You've got your own organization. That's who you have to root for. I'm still getting a paycheck. Don't worry about it.' "

That Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, who was behind the surprising move to fire manager Ned Yost with 12 games left in the season, has become increasingly involved in the search for a permanent replacement. Attanasio apparently prefers a big name, and the three finalists are believed to be Willie Randolph, Ken Macha and Bob Brenly. *

Send e-mail to hagenp@phillynews.com