World Series Phlashback: 1993—Game Three
June 18, 2009 by kevin mcguire
Filed under Fan News
In 1993 the Phillies pulled off a miraculous worst-to-first season and stunned the baseball world by clinching the National League pennant in six games over the heavily favored Atlanta Braves. Led my MVP candidate Lenny Dykstra, catcher Darren Daulton, first baseman John Kruk, and an emerging ace pitcher in Curt Schilling, the Phillies faced off against the defending World Series champions, the Toronto Blue Jays.
This World Series had a little bit of everything—from great hitting to clutch (and not so clutch) pitching, and of course rain delays.
We continue our phlashback with a look at game three, played in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Phillies (97-65) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (95-67)
Game Three: Blue Jays Win 10-3, Take 2-1 Series Lead
Taking the mound for the Phillies was veteran Danny Jackson, who had shut out the Blue Jays in the 1985 American League Championship Series. It would be a totally different story on this rainy night. The prototypical lead-off hitter, Rickey Henderson, got the Toronto offense started on the right foot with a single to right field on a 2-2 count. Devon White followed with a walk, and Paul Molitor hit a triple to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead before Phillies fans were ordering their first beer and hot dog on the night…or hot chocolate, as I recall.
A Joe Carter sacrifice fly scored Molitor, and the Blue Jays took a 3-0 lead in to the bottom of the first inning. Toronto starting pitcher Pat Hentgen struck out Lenny Dykstra and, after giving up singles to Mariano Duncan and John Kruk, struck out Dave Hollins and Darren Daulton, keeping the Phillies from putting any runs on the board in the first.
Paul Molitor struck again with a solo home run to left field to give the Blue Jays a 4-0 lead in the third inning. Toronto added one more run in the sixth inning to take a 5-0 lead, really deflating the Phillies fans in attendance for their first World Series game since 1983. Though a Jim Eisenreich single in the bottom of the sixth brought home Kruk for the Phillies’ first run, the game was still well in hand of the visitors.
In the seventh inning, Toronto once again built on their lead with a three-run frame. Henderson led off with a double off of Ben Rivera, and a Devon White triple pushed the lead to 6-1. Molitor drew a walk, but Carter struck out. Roberto Alomar’s single then scored White to make it 7-1, Toronto. A sacrifice fly by Ed Sprague brought Molitor, and the Toronto lead blossomed to 8-1.
A Mariano Duncan single scored Milt Thompson in the bottom of the inning, but the Phillies were running out of at-bats. In the ninth inning the Blue Jays tacked on two more runs off of Phillies reliever Larry Anderson. Molitor started the final inning with a single, but was out at second on a fielder’s choice ground ball by Carter. Alomar hit another triple for the Blue Jays, which scored Carter from first, and a single by Tony Fernandez scored Alomar to cap off the night of explosive offense by the Blue Jays.
Down by eight runs at 10-2, the Phillies only had three outs to put together an improbable come-from-behind victory. Milt Thompson did what he could with a lead-off home run to make it 10-3, but Toronto reliever Duan Ward retired Dykstra, Duncan, and Kruk in order to end the game.
The Blue Jays had used the power of extra-base hits to bulldoze their way to an important Game-Three victory. The loss left some Phillies fans deflated, but the offense would pick things up a night later to give the Phillies a chance to tie things up in Game Four.