In Philadelphia, the notion that the World Series championship may be snatched away by Mother Nature, Bud Selig or the Curse of Billy Penn haunts the region.

However, there is something of a silver lining here for the Phillies who may or may not resume Game 5 at home tonight against the Rays with the score tied, 2-2, in the bottom of the sixth inning and Philadelphia leading the Series three-games-to-one.

Should things not go the Phillies' way in Game 5, assuming it is played out tonight, and they trip in Game 6 in Florida, which presumably would be played on Friday after a travel day, that would set up Game 7 for Saturday. Just to clarify (or not), the MLB Web site currently has Games 6 and 7 (orginally set for Thursday and Friday) as dates to be decided.

But let's assume a normal pacing with Thursday as the travel day. In that case, the Phils would have ace Cole Hamels available for a deciding game with four days rest and that's a better scenario for Philadelphia than other potential seven-game possibilities.