ARLINGTON, Texas -- Brett Phillips squatted on the field crying, and Randy Arozarena was on the ground slapping his hands on home plate.
Tears of joy, smacks of celebration and a crucial, wild win for the scrappy Tampa Bay Rays.
The pinch-hitting Phillips delivered a tying single off Kenley Jansen with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning that turned into the game-ending hit when the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the ball twice, allowing Arozarena to score and lift the Rays to an 8-7 victory Saturday night to even this dramatic World Series at 2-2.
"Golly, what a special moment," Phillips said.
Center fielder Chris Taylor misplayed Phillips' ball in right-center for an error and chased it down while Kevin Kiermaier scored the tying run. Arozarena kept charging around third base but stumbled and fell well before reaching home.
He was able to get up and score when catcher Will Smith looked up too early and missed the relay throw, letting it squirt toward the backstop while Arozarena dived on top of the plate.
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"Once I saw Randy slip, I was like 'Aw, shoot, at least we tied it up,' and then he missed the ball," Phillips said. "I don't know what happened but then he scored. The next thing I know, I'm airplane-ing around the outfield, and I get dogpiled and here I am."
Jansen came on in the ninth for the Dodgers and struck out Yoshi Tsutsugo before a single by Kiermaier, the longest-tenured Rays player. Arozarena, the rookie who earlier hit his postseason record ninth home run, drew a two-out, full-count walk to set up the wild final play.
"You got to stay positive," Jansen said. "I didn't give up one hard hit. What can I do? Throw the pitches where I wanted to. Credit to the hitters."
A 26-year-old from Seminole, Fla., Phillips was drafted by Houston and played for Milwaukee and Kansas City before Tampa Bay acquired him in August for a minor-leaguer. Touted for his outfield defense, he hasn't hit much in the majors, ending the regular season with a career .202 average in 153 games. He had been 0 for 2 in the postseason and hadn't batted since Game 3 of the AL division series Oct. 7.
Phillips was left off the AL Championship Series roster but shined as a cheerleader, writing up phony scouting reports on a clipboard touting Arozarena before dancing against him in battles after the team locked up the AL pennant.
"What a great team effort on this win. It took almost 28 guys," Phillips said. "That's what special about this team. Just all come together, our one goal is to win. We don't rely on one guy. It takes everyone, and man, baseball is fun."
Corey Seager and Justin Turner both had four hits with a solo home run for the Dodgers, who nearly went into Game 5 tonight with a 3-1 series lead. They'll send three-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw to the mound on regular rest after winning Game 1 on Tuesday night.
Hunter Renfroe, Brandon Lowe and Kiermaier also homered for the Rays, who had gotten all of their runs on long balls until that last play. All their previous runs came during a frantic stretch when the teams combined to score in eight consecutive half-innings, a first in World Series history.
A solo home run by Kiermaier tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh, right after the first two lead changes in this entire World Series.
Lowe went the opposite way for the third time in this Series, his three-run home run to left in the bottom of the sixth putting the Rays up 5-4. A half-inning later, the second baseman was laying facedown in short right field after his diving attempt to catch pinch-hitter Joc Pederson's liner, which skimmed off the top of his glove for a two-run single that put the Dodgers back ahead.
That was the first go-ahead pinch-hit in the World Series for the Dodgers since Kirk Gibson's game-ending home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.
At a glance
WORLD SERIES
At Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas
Best-of-7;x-if necessary
All games on Fox
TUESDAY’S GAME
LA Dodgers 8, Tampa Bay 3
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Tampa Bay 6, LA Dodgers 4
FRIDAY’S GAME
LA Dodgers 6, Tampa Bay 2
SATURDAY’S GAME
Tampa Bay 8, LA Dodgers 7
Series tied 2-2.
TODAY’S GAME
All times Central
LA Dodgers (Kershaw 6-2) vs. Tampa
Bay (Glasnow 5-1), 7:08 p.m.
TUESDAY, OCT. 27
Tampa Bay vs. LA Dodgers, 7:08 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 28
x-Tampa Bay at LA Dodgers, 7:09 p.m.