by Tracy Ringolsby, Special to FOXSports.com

Phantastic Phils

	World Series Phillies win 4-1
Kriegel: Phils win is vindicating Rosenthal: Rotation was the difference Perry: 10 keys to Phillies' victory Ringolsby: Manuel reaches pinnacle PHOTOS: Phils finish Rays in Game 5

Game 1: Phillies 3, Rays 2 Rosenthal | Kriegel | Video | Photos

Game 2: Rays 4, Phillies 2 Rosenthal | Fraley | Video | Photos

Game 3: Phillies 5, Rays 4 Rosenthal | Kriegel | Video | Photos

Game 4: Phillies 10, Rays 2 Rosenthal | Kriegel | Video | Photos

Game 5: Phillies 4, Rays 3 Rosenthal | Kriegel | Video | Photos

More on the playoffs:

• MLB Playoff Central | Video Central
• Fan reaction to every series

They split the first two games of the World Series with the Phillies at the Tropicana Field and now head to Citizens Bank Park for the next three. Every day is a hold-your-breath moment for the Rays.

They are baseball's biggest surprise since at least the Amazin' Mets of '69, if not the most surprising ever.

And even their management team was caught off guard by what the Rays have done.

Let's face it, while this team that had never lost fewer than 90 games in a season in its existence spent 110 days of the regular-season in first place, even those who have blind love for the Rays had their doubts. If management really thought these Rays had a chance to win a world championship they would have made the bold move back in June, or at least in July, to add a quality late-inning bullpen arm.

Troy Percival was a feel-good story in his ability to return to duty, but the reality was glaring. He wasn't going to physically survive the season. And he hasn't. The Rays are in the World Series. Percival is at home.

Tampa Bay could have had Brian Fuentes from Colorado. Sure it would have cost the Rays a couple of top-line prospects, but we're talking about a lefty with a funky motion, 90-mile-per-hour velocity and an ability to handle the challenges of Coors Field for four consecutive seasons and to be even better at the end of his tour than he was at the start.

The Rays, however, backed off Fuentes and any other pitcher who had the semblance of a closer, not wanting to give up prospects from an overpopulated farm system, worrying about the future when the present has so much promise.

Tip the hat to Rays manager Joe Maddon. He somehow found a way to mix and match his way into baseball's showcase event, and with his cross-your-fingers, bring-in-the-reliever lifestyle he has the Rays within three wins of a world championship.

So far, so good.

The first two games the Rays have been able to completely shut down the clutch-hitting efforts of a Phillies team that hit .263 with runners in scoring position during the regular season, but is 1-for-28 the first two games of the World Series — and the one hit was an infield single that didn't even drive in a run.

Do David Price and the Rays bullpen have the stamina to get through the World Series? (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

And more importantly, Maddon has been able to find the right answers to his bullpen questions the first two games.

It is a volatile mixture that he has to blend. It blew up in the Rays' face in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series at Boston when, seven outs from elimination, the Red Sox began a comeback from a 7-0 deficit and battered Dan Wheeler, the reliever Maddon has the most confidence in with closer Troy Percival not around. The Red Sox pulled out an 8-7 win, eventually forcing a Game 7 showdown that the Rays won, 3-1.

That game did serve as a wakeup call to Maddon. It made him realize that for all that Wheeler has done to get the Rays where they are, he has worn out and every out he gets right now is a bonus. It made him admit to himself that even though Percival's injuries have him sidelined, he couldn't count on Wheeler to close out wins in the postseason.

Problem was there wasn't a legitimate alternative on a team that was so unstructured in its bullpen that while Percival had a team-best 28 saves, there were five others who had multiple saves.

Things, however, are working out for the Rays. They made an in-season decision of a team in the building process, found themselves gambling with rushing a young arm down the stretch and are three wins away from hitting the jackpot thanks to the quick maturation of David Price.

Price, the first player taken in the 2007 draft, arrived in the big leagues less than a month after his 23rd birthday, and with only 19 games of minor-league experience. He finds himself in October on center stage.

After making five September appearances — a start and four relief assignments — he earned his first big-league victory against Boston in the ALCS, and then picked up his first professional save in the Game 7 victory against the Red Sox that sent the Rays into the World Series.

And he's not done yet.

With Maddon knowing he had to win Game 2, and James Shields showing signs of fatigue after 5 2/3 shutout innings, Maddon had to go to the bullpen early. Wheeler got him out of a sixth-inning jam, and retired the first two batters in the seventh.

Then the call went out to Price. He provided the final seven outs in the first World Series victory in Rays history.

There were some shaky moments, including a wakeup call in the eighth when Eric Bruntlett came off the bench and Price tried to slip a 97 mph fastball by him on the first pitch only to see Bruntlett turn the pitch into a shutout-ending home run.

Price, however, didn't break.

And neither have the Rays.

They have been surprising baseball people, including their own, all season.

Now they are just hoping they can find three more wins before the magic coach they have been riding becomes a pumpkin.