The ship has sailed for the Tampa Bay Rays on a potential World Series championship. The Rays had their opportunities early in the series, and by failing to cash in, they gave the Phillies more than enough time to get comfortable and find their rhythm.

This series turned out to be a race to that point. Who would break out of their funks first, Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria or Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins?

While Howard and Rollins emerged in big ways the last two games, Pena and Longoria may not wake up until spring training. Both players are in search of their first hits in the series — they are a combined 0-for-29 — and Phillies pitchers are searching for threats in the rest of the Rays lineup. Read more »

All season long, the Tampa Bay Rays won with balance. Hitting in the clutch, strong team defense, and solid pitching led the team to 97 victories. But, in the Game 1 loss to Philadephia in the World Series, the hitting faltered and all sense of balance was off.

Compiling only five team hits, the Rays lineup was stifled by opposing pitcher Cole Hamels all game long. The meat of the Ray’s order - B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena - were held without a hit in 12 at bats.

In attempt to offset the struggles of their teammates, Akinori Iwamura and Carl Crawford gave their best efforts to pick up the slack. Iwamura went 3-for-4, while Crawford added a home run. However, their effots were not enough to carry the team to victory, as the Rays fell into a 1-0 series deficit. Read more »

Who said that the Philadelphia Phillies would have trouble dealing with pop ups and fly balls getting lost in the dome and catwalks of Tropicana Field?

Who said that the Phillies would have difficulty fielding grounders on the terrible artificial turf that the Rays have played on for 88 games to date?

No one must have told this to the NL Champions as they took home field advantage away from the Tampa Bay Rays with a Game 1 victory last night. The Phillies overcame a week-long layoff to put themselves in the driver’s seat for this year’s Fall Classic. Read more »

After a grueling 162 game regular season and weeks of playoff baseball in rigorous cold weather, the World Series has finally arrived pitting the Philadelphia Phillies against the Tampa Bay Rays. Hold onto your hats because history is about to be made, regardless of who wins.

Can the Phillies bring Philadelphia its first major sports championship since 1983, or do the Tampa Bay Rays win their first World Series in franchise history? ImaginaryDiamond.com is here to break down both teams, and tell you who is going to raise the hardware at series end. Read more »

While the National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies have had their World Series rotation set for a few days now, Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon has still not set his rotation for the World Series. Game 1 is just a day away.

There are many reasons for why Phillies manager Charlie Manuel already has his rotation set. Begin with the fact that the Phillies eliminated the Los Angeles Dodgers almost a week ago and the time off has allowed for all of his starting pitchers to get some extra rest. You might even be able to reason that the Phillies starters have a bit of a psychological edge, knowing exactly when they will be handed the ball. Read more »

What’s the best way to quiet 42,099 screaming Cubs fans on a 1-2 count with two outs? Just ask Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman James Loney, who hit a grand slam in the fifth inning at Wrigley Field last night. The Dodgers never looked back after Loney’s slam gave them a 4-2 lead, winning Game 1 of their National League Division Series 7-2.

Manny Ramirez and Russell Martin added solo home runs in the seventh and ninth innings, respectively, to add to the assault on the North Side of Chicago. The Cubs were heavily favored to take Game 1, but the ineffectiveness of Ryan Dempster led to something otherwise. Dempster was the Cubs most consistent and effective starter during the regular season and only had three outings where he walked more than four batters. He walked seven Dodgers in last night’s game. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune writes of Dempster’s control issues in this article. Read more »

Just like Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels in 2006, Dodgers phenom Clayton Kershaw made a highly anticipated debut on Sunday and still found a way to exceed lofty expectations. He worked six solid innings in a home start against the Cardinals, allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts in six innings. He got a no-decision when L.A. won 4-3 in the 10th on an Andre Ethier RBI single.

Hamels, a lanky left-hander with an advanced approach to pitching, is a solid comparison for Kershaw. Their arsenals are different, but their deliveries are similar and the results, at least through one start, are looking very much the same. Kershaw is armed with a live fastball and a deadly curveball, where Hamels features a quality fastball and a plus-changeup. Read more »