Phillies Take Game 1

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Tampa Bay Rays certainly is not a match-up that you would expect to see in a World Series, but the two team have impressed thus far in postseason and met last night in Tampa for game one of the World Series.

The appearance for Tampa is the first in franchise history. A first in a year of first for the organization. This season marked the first with a winning record, the first division title, the first playoff appearance, and first playoff series win in both the ALCS and ALCS.

The Phillies last made a World Series appearance in 1993 losing to the Toronto Blue Jays on Joe Carter's memorable walk off homerun to win the series. The last time Philadelphia won the World Series was back in 1980.

As for the game...

Cole Hamels went seven innings allowing just two runs en route to picking up his fourth win of the playoffs. Hamels playoff line now stands at 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA this postseason. It was not his strongest outing of the playoffs, but he was effective cooling off the hot bats of BJ Upton and Evan Longoria, both of whom have been tearing the cover off the ball as of late. The heart of the Rays' lineup (Upton, Longoria, and Carlos Pena) went a combine 0 for 12 in the game.

Hamels counterpart, Scott Kazmir, who was selected two spots ahead of Hamels in the 2002 draft, struggled with his control for much of the game. Kazmir gave up a Chase Utley homer in the first inning putting Tampa in a 0-2 hole.

The first game of a series is a big one. It sets the tone for things to come and can get momentum swinging in your direction if you come away victorious. The Phillies were able to do that in game one. We will see how it plays out going forward.

''It's huge,'' Phillies closer Brad Lidge said. ''You try and downplay it, but obviously you're coming into a place like this, you want to make sure you get the first game, especially because you got your ace on the mound. It's really important to do that.''