Tony DeMarco

PHILADELPHIA - World Series Game 3 had the starting pitching matchup the Tampa Bay Rays desired – the one everybody figured gave them a slight series edge.

But it didn't turn out that way, and Game 4 now has become critical. This is the pressure facing right-hander Andy Sonnanstine – the Rays' No. 4 starter who hasn't pitched in 12 days: Lose this one, and unless the Rays beat Cole Hamels in Game 5, their miracle season could end without a return trip to Tropicana Field.

So it's a good thing that Rays manager Joe Maddon refers to Sonnanstine, a 25-year-old right-hander, as a 'winner' pretty much every time he talks about him.

“I've talked about him for years,'' Maddon said. “You have to read into a guy's heart. You get people like him who always won and continue to win, so it shouldn't surprise anybody.''

Sonnanstine has won twice in this postseason, 6-2 over the White Sox in Game 4 of the division series, and 13-4 over the Red Sox in Game 4 of the ALCS. He doesn't light up radar guns, he has no dynamite out-pitch.

“Having confidence in myself is important,'' he said. “One of the things that helps me win is working quick. I try to do all the little things that give me a little bit of an edge, whether it's pausing in my delivery, messing up the tempo, working quick, fielding my position.''

The Rays will need all those little things after a stirring Game 3 that didn't end until 1:47 am ET after a 91-minute rain delay pushed back the start until 10:06 p.m ET.

It's hard to blame anybody who wasn't watching by the time it ended. After all, the bottom of the ninth unfolded shortly after 1:30 a.m. ET — a dramatic end to a three-hour, 41-minute game. But those who weren't tuned in missed one of this postseason's best games.

Phils catcher Carlos Ruiz has strung together excellent at-bats throughout this series, including a second-inning home run that put his team ahead 2-1. And when he delivered the game-winning hit, it went all of about 40 feet — a perfectly placed chopper down the third-base line.

Rays rookie third baseman Evan Longoria — already 0-for-12 in the series and greeted throughout the night with derisive chants of 'Eva' — charged it, dove to field it and threw wildly to home plate. Eric Bruntlett beat the errant throw and the Phillies had a 5-4 victory and a 2-1 series lead.

“I felt like something good was going to happen in that situation,'' said Jamie Moyer, the game's early key figure. “When (Ruiz) hit that ball, I think I went from my seat to the ceiling.''

The ball appeared to be heading foul, and Longoria had no play at home, anyway, so he should have let it go. But the inning unraveled earlier for the Rays, one of the AL's best defensive teams all season.

J.P. Howell brilliantly got out of the bottom of the eighth inning with a pickoff sandwiched between strikeouts of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. But he hit Eric Bruntlett to start the bottom of the ninth, and Bruntlett ended up at third on a wild pitch and a throwing error to center field by catcher Dioner Navarro.

Rays manager Joe Maddon then intentionally walked two hitters and changed his defensive alignment by moving right-fielder Ben Zobrist in front of second base. But the Rays had no defense for Ruiz's chopper, and the Phillies avoided a potentially stinging loss after letting a 4-1 sixth-inning lead slip away.

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“It's better to be lucky sometimes than to be good,'' Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Moyer was better than good. In a complete reversal from his two previous post-season failures, he was brilliant for six innings. Meanwhile, the pattern was exactly reversed for Rays starter and ALCS MVP Matt Garza.

Moyer's post-season had gone from bad to worse in losing both game threes in the division series and NLCS. The ugly totals: Eight earned runs in 5.1 innings and a .435 opponents' batting average.

Video   Phantastic win for Phillies Oct. 26: Eric Bruntlett and Carlos Ruiz talk about the thrilling end to Philadelphia's 5-4 Game 3 victory over Tampa Bay.e the winning run NBC Sports

But that all changed as soon as a day-long rain cleared. Moyer's tantalizing combination of slow stuff worked nicely against an aggressive young Rays lineup that included four left-handed hitters.

And Moyer said it helped to feel the emotion of a raucous, sellout crowd of 45,900 at Citizens Bank Park that would have stuck around all night to see the first pitch.

“I think it was very uplifting to walk across the field, even through the puddles, and hear the excitement of the fans,'' Moyer said. “You really felt like the stadium was on end. It was really electric in our ballpark, and I think that's very big for us.''

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