Covering the bases

Rain may threaten Game 3

Ready, set, rainout?

Brad Lidge and almost everyone else in Philadelphia is geared up for the city's first World Series game in 15 years tonight. Trouble is, it might be a washout.

According to weather.com on Friday evening, the forecast called for a 70-80 percent chance of rain Saturday afternoon -- though it was only about 30 percent by 7 p.m.

Game 3 between the Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays is scheduled to begin at 8:35 p.m. Matt Garza is slated to pitch for the Rays against 45-year-old Jamie Moyer, making his World Series debut. A postponement would push the game back to Sunday.

"We're anxious to start here," said Lidge, the Phillies' star closer. "That being said, we waited six days for the dang thing to start, or seven days for the World Series to start anyway, so we're used to being patient. But we definitely want to get it going."

Philadelphia had a six-day layoff after wrapping up the NL championship series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Phillies won the World Series opener at Tampa Bay behind ace Cole Hamels but lost Game 2 on Thursday night.

With the next three games to be played in the City of Brotherly Love, the World Series is in Philadelphia for the first time since Game 5 in 1993. Curt Schilling shut out the Blue Jays at Veterans Stadium that night, but Toronto took the title in Game 6 on Joe Carter's ninth-inning homer off Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams.

Game 2 not popular with Fox viewers

Game 2 of the World Series was a dud on television.

The Tampa Bays Rays' 4-2 victory Thursday night received an 8.1 fast national rating and 13 share on Fox, the network said Friday. That is the second-lowest rating for a Series game, ahead of only the 8.0 for the St. Louis Cardinals' 7-2 win over the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 opener.

The first two games averaged an 8.7/14, a 19 percent drop from the 10.8/18 for last year's Boston Red Sox-Colorado Rockies series. Philadelphia's 3-2 win in Wednesday's opener received a 9.2/15.

SHORT HOPS: The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Friday that all eight coaches who finished the year working under manager Joe Torre will be back, including Manny Mota, who returns for his 30th season as a coach with the Dodgers and his 40th in the organization.

* The Toronto Blue Jays acquired two of the top four picks in the 2002 draft on Friday, signing converted pitcher Adam Loewen to a minor league contract and claiming right-hander Bryan Bullington off waivers.

* Former major league manager Jim Riggleman and former players Marquis Grissom and Pat Listach joined the Washington Nationals' revamped coaching staff Friday.