Bottom of the sixth
Move: With righthander Grant Balfour on the mound, Manuel sent lefthanded-swinging Geoff Jenkins up to bat for pitcher Cole Hamels.
Counter-move: Wanting switch-hitter Jimmy Rollins to bat lefthanded and with Jayson Werth to follow, Maddon left
Balfour in the game, even though lefty J.P. Howell also had been warming up.
Result: Jenkins, who batted just .222 in September and was 0-for-3 in the postseason, doubled off the wall in right-center.
"I was fine with pitching Grant against the lefthander," Maddon said.
Said Manuel: "Even if they brought in a lefthander, I had
already decided to let Jenkins hit because he's capable of hitting the ball out of the yard. And I wanted to keep [Greg] Dobbs and [Matt] Stairs back for the eighth or ninth."
Move: Instead of trying to drive in the run himself, Rollins dropped a sacrifice bunt. Rollins later said that, even if Manuel had allowed him to hit away, he still planned to bunt.
Move: With one out and a runner on third, Maddon brought his infield in.
Result: When Werth hit a popup to shallow center, Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura had a long way to go. He got to the ball and tried to make an over-the-shoulder catch, but couldn't hold on. Even though Jenkins had to stay at third until he saw the ball hit the ground, he scored the go-ahead run
easily.
"It was just out of our range," Maddon said. "They just put us in some very difficult moments."
Move: With Chase Utley and Ryan Howard due up, Maddon brought Howell in to relieve
Balfour.
Result: Utley struck out and, after Werth turned a possible pickoff into a stolen base, Howard popped up to end the
inning.
Top of the seventh
Move: Manuel brought righthander Ryan Madson in to start the inning.
