Celebration after game-winning hit left Rays’ Phillips sick
Brett Phillips is congratulated by Hunter Renfroe and Willy Adames after hitting a ninth inning two-run walk-off single to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, Texas - Brett Phillips got so excited in the aftermath of his two-out single in the ninth inning of Game 4, the one that started a wild game-ending play with two errors and two runs for Tampa Bay in an 8-7 victory, that he got sick.
Phillips’ head started pounding, and the athletic training staff covered his head with a towel to calm him after the crazy celebration that followed the Los Angeles Dodgers miscues that allowed Randy Arozarena to score the winning run from first base.
“During the celebration, just exhausting a lot of energy, and I almost passed out. I didn’t realize I was dehydrated,” Phillips said Sunday. “I had to get an IV — first time, getting an IV. ... When I went to the training room, my resting heart rate was over 140 just laying there. They were like, ‘We’ve got to chill you down. Chill out.’ But it was all worth it. Just a little hyperventilation going on inside me.”
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Rays outlast Dodgers with dramatic finish; World Series tied at 2 games each
Seminole High's 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.
Phillips said he had a little more than 500 text messages when he got back to the hotel, and he didn’t go to bed until about 4 a.m. after replying to “every single one of those messages. That’s something I take a lot of passion into, thanking everyone that supported me.”
Among those he heard from were Ryan Braun, Adam Wainwright, Liam Hendriks and Whit Merrifield. He said some of the messages were so explicit, they made him laugh.
“I got a text from my best friend, Mike Mann,” he said. “We were in the backyard at 8, 9, 10 years old, playing that same situation with a Wiffle Ball bat. Hey, bases loaded, two outs and you’re down by one in the World Series. He texted me that.”
Phillips’ wife, Bri, was not at Globe Life Field for the big moment.
“Her family, my mom, my stepdad, they all left. The only people that stayed was my sister, my dad and fiancée,” Phillips said. “But I told them I’m glad that they left because I’m a firm believer in everything happens for a reason. And who knows if they would have stayed, if that would have happened? So, sure they regret it a little bit, but I by no means got upset.”