World Series Notebook | Rain delay sets TV-rating low

NEW YORK — With a 91-minute rain delay pushing the first pitch of Saturday's game until after 10 p.m. (EDT), Game 3 of the World Series drew a record-low television rating.

The Philadelphia Phillies' 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, which ended at 1:47 a.m. Sunday, earned a 6.1 fast national rating and 13 share on Fox, the network said.

The previous low was an 8.0 in 2006 for Game 1 of the Cardinals-Tigers series.

The game Saturday averaged a 6.5/13 from 11 p.m.-midnight EDT, slid to 6.0/14 for the next hour, then rose to a 6.3/17 after 1 a.m.

The game drew a 28.2/49 in Philadelphia and a 21.6/44 in Tampa. With most of the game in prime time on the West Coast, some of the best ratings outside the home markets came there, including a 9.7/19 in Seattle and a 9.2/20 in San Francisco.

Blanton's hat

draws scrutiny

PHILADELPHIA — Joe Blanton's sharp command Sunday night drew immediate attention from Tampa Bay's dugout. So, apparently, did the bill of his cap.

As first reported by mlb.com, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon told home-plate umpire Tom Hallion after the second inning that he believed Blanton had pine tar on his hat.

"I asked (the umpires) to just watch it and be vigilant about it, and nothing happened. But I was concerned about it early on," Maddon said.

Hallion told Maddon that he would check the ball, and if he found a foreign substance on the ball, he would act on it. All this was apparently picked up from a television feed between innings.

"It's nothing," Blanton said. "They rubbed balls up with whatever they rub them with. I'm constantly trying to get moisture. It's nothing sticky."

Blanton then said of his cap: "Anybody can go touch it. It's just dirt from the ball."

Notes

• Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox and Aramis Ramirez of the Chicago Cubs won the Hank Aaron Award in fan voting for the best offensive players in their leagues.

• Philadelphia fans needled Tampa Bay players throughout Game 2, especially 3B Evan Longoria. They chanted "Eva! Eva! Eva!" when he stepped into the batter's box, a reference to Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, whom Evan has never met. And to clarify, Evan and Eva are not related.

Rays manager Joe Maddon thought the fans' behavior was both good and bad. He didn't like that fans threw mustard packs at his granddaughter, but he said he had a fun back-and-forth with a fan near the Tampa Bay dugout who was drinking Coors Light instead of a Pennsylvania beer.

"Don't be going with Coors Light," Maddon remembered saying. "It's so unfashionable for a Philly dude."