By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The Phillies can now call themselves the 2005 Major League World Series champions as they took an 8-3 win over the Orioles Tuesday evening in Cal Ripken baseball action.
The Phillies started the night out just as they wanted to and got a big lead to keep the Orioles as far out of sight as possible.
The Phillies had a 7-1 lead going into the fifth. The Orioles made an attempt to come back when a double from Matthew Dodge allowed one run to score.
Buck Bourdon of the Orioles was also able to make it to home to add another run to the score board, but the Philles still had the 7-3 advantage.
The Phillies brought in another run in the top of the sixth when Jordan Harper hit a RBI with bases loaded. The Phillies still had the 8-3 win going into the final innings.
One last attempt by the Orioles to catch up wasn't enough as Chris Longoria was thrown out at first and Mitchell Dehn struck out two batters.
Dustin Purcell took the win on the mound for the Phillies against Brian Exner of the Orioles.
Top hitters for the Phillies were Purcell and Greg Rhodes both with two singles each and Colin Latislaw with a triple.
The Orioles were led offensively by Matt Dodge with a double and two singles, William Newton and Longoria both with two singles each and Courtlan Gordon with a triple.
Devils Rays vs. Cardinals
In Minor League action, the Devil Rays took an 11-7 win over the Cardinals Tuesday evening to keep them alive in World Series action.
Both teams now have one win each, with tonight's game deciding the winner.
The Cardinals took the win over the Rays Monday evening.
Mitchell Dehn led the way offensively with a triple and a double and Evan Hartman, Alex Walters and Joshua Carr all added singles for the Devil Rays.
Hartman took the win on the mound with Dehn the save.
For the Cardinals, Chris Mangus had two singles, while David Tharp and Jake Wright both added one single each.