Phillies' starting pitcher Cole Hamels was named the MVP of the World Series after the team's five-game defeat of the Rays in the Fall Classic.

Game 5 of the World Series resumed on Wednesday night after nearly a 46-hour delay, and a little more than an hour later the Phillies defeated the Rays 4-3 to win the World Series. The Phillies didn't waste any time, scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning, just a few minutes after the game was resumed, on an RBI single by Jayson Werth to shallow center. Rocco Baldelli answered quickly for the Rays, hitting a solo home run off Ryan Madson in the top of the seven, but Philadelphia answered back just as quickly in the bottom of the inning. Pat Burrell led off the inning with a double, and Pedro Feliz then singled home Eric Bruntlett, who ran for Burrell, to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead. Philadelphia reliever J.C. Romero recorded four outs before closer Brad Lidge came on in the top of the ninth. Lidge got Evan Longoria to pop out to Chase Utley behind second base for the first out of the inning, with the crowd at Citizens Bank Park waving their white towels in anticipation. Dioner Navarro then singled to right to put the tying run on the base pads with Ben Zobrist, pitch-hitting for Baldelli, coming up to bat. Fernando Perez, running for Navarro, stole second before Zobrist lined out to right. Perez was forced to stay at second on the play, and manager Joe Maddon sent Eric Hinske to the plate to hit for Jason Bartlett with Tampa Bay down to their last out. Lidge then struck Hinske out to win the game and the World Series for the Phillies and the city of Philadelphia.

Joe Blanton became the first pitcher in 34 years to homer in the World Series; Ryan Howard drove in five runs with two homers; and the Phillies romped over the Rays 10-2 on Sunday night to move within one win of their first championship since 1980. Jayson Werth also homered as the Phillies took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Series.

The Phillies outlasted the Rays, 5-4, on Sunday night thanks to a crazy ninth inning in which Carlos Ruiz hit an infield single with the bases loaded to win the game. Chase Utley hit an RBI ground out in the first to put Philadelphia up 1-0, but the lead didn't last long as Gabe Gross hit a sacrifice fly that scored Carl Crawford in the top of the second. Ruiz hit a homer in the bottom half of the inning to give the Phillies the lead once again, and the score would remain the same for several innings. Utley and Ryan Howard hit back-to-back solo homers in the sixth inning to push Philadelphia's lead to 4-1. Tampa Bay rallied with two runs in the seventh and another in the eighth on a throwing error by Ruiz, to tie the game at four runs apiece. But after the bases were full of Phillies in the bottom of the ninth, Ruiz hit an infield single that scored Eric Bruntlett to win the game for Philadelphia.

The Tampa Bay Rays evened up the World Series on Thursday night with a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. James Shields, who started for the Rays, went 5 2/3 innings. He scattered seven hits and walked two but didn't allow a run. Tampa Bay got to Philadelphia's Brett Myers early, scoring two runs in the first inning on back-to-back RBI ground outs by Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria. B.J. Upton, who absolutely dominated in the ALCS against Boston, hit an RBI single in the second to push Tampa's lead to 3-0. Shortstop Jason Bartlett got to Myers, as well, hitting a sacrifice bunt to the mound that scored Cliff Floyd and gave the Rays a 4-0 advantage in the fourth inning. The Phillies, who out-hit the Rays 9-7 in the loss, got their first run on a pitch-hit home run by Eric Bruntlett in the top of the eighth inning. A fielding error by outfielder Jayson Werth in the first, and another by catcher Carlos Ruiz in the fifth inning, allowed the Rays to keep innings alive. David Price, who gave up the homer to Bruntlett in the eighth, remained on the mound to pitch in the ninth inning. Ruiz led off the inning with a double to left off Price, but Jimmy Rollins continued his recent postseason struggles with a pop-up to short for the first out of the inning. Werth then reached on a fielding error by Price, with Ruiz scoring on the play. Price rallied to strike out Chase Utley for the second out of the inning, with Ryan Howard on deck. Howard grounded out to second to end the game, allowing Tampa Bay to even the series at a game apiece heading into the weekend. Game 3 will be Saturday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia with Jamie Moyer facing off against Matt Garza.

The Philadelphia Phillies took Game 1 of the World Series over the Rays, 3-2, in Tampa Bay on Wednesday night. Cole Hamels pitched beautifully, throwing seven strong innings. He allowed two runs on five hits while striking out five. Chase Utley gave the Phillies an early lead on a two-run home run in the top half of the first inning. Carlos Ruiz added another run for Philadelphia with an RBI ground out in the fourth, and the NL Champions never looked back. Carl Crawford hit a solo shot to put Tampa Bay on the board in the bottom of the fourth, and Akinori Iwamura drove in the team's second run with a double in the fifth that scored Jason Bartlett. Zeros were put up on the board for the remainder of the game, with closer Brad Lidge coming on to retire the Rays 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth.

The Rays and Red Sox combined to set a new record for home runs in a league championship series on Sunday night in Game 7. Boston's Dustin Pedroia hit a solo shot in the first inning to move the 2008 ALCS into a tie with the 2004 NLCS (Houston-St. Louis). Tampa Bay's Willy Aybar then added a solo jack in the seventh to set a new Major League record for home runs in a LCS. The Rays and Red Sox combined to hit 26 home runs in their seven-game series, which Tampa Bay won on Sunday night. Both B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria hit four home runs in this year's ALCS while Carlos Pena and Pedroia each had three.

The Rays defeated the Red Sox in Game 7 of the ALCS, 3-1, on Sunday night to advance to their first-ever World Series. Matt Garza started for Tampa Bay, and pitched seven strong innings of one-run baseball. He struck out nine, walked three, and gave up just two hits. Garza was named the 2008 ALCS MVP. After Alex Cora reached in the eighth inning on an error by shortstop Jason Bartlett to start the inning, Tampa manager Joe Maddon used Dan Wheeler, J.P. Howell, Chad Bradford, and David Price to get out of the inning unscathed. Price then remained on the mound in the top of ninth to preserve the win for the Rays, sending them to their first World Series in a season of firsts for Tampa Bay. Dustin Pedroia put Boston on the board in the first inning with a solo shot off Garza, and Jon Lester was in complete control through the game's first three innings. The Rays rallied in the fourth, though, as Evan Longoria hit an RBI double to tie the game at 1-1. Rocco Baldelli then hit an RBI single in the fifth to give the Rays a 2-1 lead. Lester pitched seven innings, struck out eight, and walked none. However, he wasn't able to get out of the game before Willy Aybar hit a solo home run in the seventh, pushing Tampa Bay's lead to 3-1 heading into the eighth inning. Boston loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, but a combination of five pitchers retired the Sox without a single run coming across the plate. After Hideki Okajima retired the Rays in order, Price trotted back out onto the mound for Tampa Bay with the Sox down to their last three outs. Price walked Jason Bay on eight pitches but struck out Mark Kotsay and Jason Varitek to move the Rays to within one out of the World Series. Jed Lowrie came to the plate, pinch-hitting for Cora, and grounded out to second to end Boston's season. The Rays will host the Phillies on Wednesday in Game 1 of the World Series.

The Red Sox, playing like the defending champs they are, came out swinging and beat the Rays 4-2 Saturday night to force a Game 7 in an ALCS tomorrow night in Tampa Bay, as reported by the Associated Press. Boston' captain Jason Varitek snapped an 0-for-14 slump with a tiebreaking, sixth-inning solo homer to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead in the game.

Rays outfielder B.J. Upton hit his seventh home run of the 2008 postseason on Saturday night in Game 5 of the ALCS against the Red Sox. Upton, who hit three homers in the ALDS against Chicago, has smacked four versus Boston through the first six games of the series. He now sits in a tie with teammate Evan Longoria, who has also hit four home runs in this year's ALCS, and six other players. Carlos Beltran (2004), Albert Pujols (2004), Jim Thome (1998), Jeffrey Leonard (1987), Steve Garvey (1978) and Bob Robertson (1971) have also hit four home runs in LCS play. He had just nine home runs in 531 regular-season at-bats, a rate of one home run every 59 at-bats. Through his first at-bat in Game 5, he's hitting a homer every 5.5 at-bats in the postseason. Upton also has 11 RBI in this month's ALCS, moving him into a tie with Boston's David Ortiz, who had 11 RBI against New York in the 2004 ALCS. Upton's home run briefly gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in Game 5, before Kevin Youkilis answered with a homer of his own in the next half-inning.