The Phillies‘ inability to hit with runners in scoring position, something that has plagged this team for the better part of Charlie Manuel’s tenure as manager, finally caught up with them on Thursday, as the Fightins fell to the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 in Game 2 of the World Series.

The Phillies are 1-28 with runners in scoring position through two games of the World Series. The Rays, on the other hand, managed to score most of their runs last night without even getting a hit. With runners on second and third and nobody out in the bottom of the first, Carlos Pena grounded out to second, scoring Akirnori Iwamura and moving BJ Upton to third. Evan Longoria followed by grounding out to the shortstop, scoring Upton. That put the Rays up 2-0. They would later score on a safety squeeze by shortstop Jason Bartlett.

The Rays play a small ball type of baseball largely unseen outside of the National League and the AL Los Angeles Angels. Rays’ manager Joe Maddon spent some time under Angels’ manager Mike Socia before becoming the manager in Tampa Bay in 2006, and Socia’s style of play has clearly rubbed off on him.

The Rays were helped by the erratic pitching of Phillies’ starter Brett Myers, who went seven innings and gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits while walking three and striking out only two.

“I felt like I had good stuff. I just had to pitch to their aggressiveness,” Myers said. “Instead of trying to strike guys out, I had to try to get groundouts.”

It wasn’t Myers best start to be sure, but he has certainly been worse. Many argue that he was just outdueled by Rays’ starter James Shields. Despite allowing seven hits over just 5 2/3 innings, Shields did not allow a single run to cross the plate, and struck out four while only walking two.

It begs the question whether the Phillies actually just beat themselves. Shields was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and Myers was not bad. The Phillies got on base, 13 times to be exact, but only managed to score two runs. Some have argued that they had trouble picking up the ball in Tropicana Field, as it appeared was evident during Greg Dobbs first at bat. Dobbs appeared to not even see the ball, as one pitch just nearly hit him in the jaw. Others have questioned whether it’s because they are rusty, having had a week off between the NLCS and the World Series.

Still, others have proposed that it’s simply the Phillies. They are just not a good team with runners in scoring position and are simply outmatched by the Rays pitching. I don’t think the Phillies are necessarily outmatched by the Rays pitching, but I do think they are historically bad with runners in scoring position. I think they will be in a more comfortable environment in Citizens Bank Park, one that is more suited to their skills.

Under no circumstances do I think there is reason to worry or panic. You’re not supposed to win on the road in the playoffs and they managed to take one of two from the Rays, essentially stripping them of home field advantage. The Phillies have yet to lose at the Cit this postseason and have three games to close out the series. Thursday’s game was ugly, yes, but it was no cause for alarm. I still think the Phillies take this series because if there is one thing they know how to do well, it’s how to overcome adversity and reign triumphant.