Ratings Chart Attack!

The challenges of the small-market World Series matchup became apparent last night, as Game 2 between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies hoisted Fox to just a second-place finish for the night in the ratings.

Scoring a 4.0/11 rating in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic, yesterday’s game slid 17% from Game 1 and is one of the lowest-rated Game 2s in Fox history.

In total viewers, Game 2 declined 12% from Wednesday’s kickoff game to 12.8 million viewers.

Fox ended Thursday night in second with a 3.7/10.

CBS won the night with on-par performances versus last week from “CSI” (5.5/12, 19.2 million), “Survivor” (4.4/12, 13.4 million) and “Eleventh Hour” (3.1/8, 12.2 million). The Eye ended Thursday with an average 4.3/11 in the 18-49 demo and 14.9 million viewers.

NBC hit bumpy territory as “My Name Is Earl” nearly matched its lowest showing ever with a 2.5/7, while the rest of the night saw slight declines from last week. “Kath and Kim” (2.2/6, down 12%), “The Office” (4.2/10, down 2%), “SNL Weekend Update Thursday” (4.0/9, down 5%) and “ER” (3.2/8, down 11%) all were off from their season averages.

NBC took fourth place on the night with a 3.2/8.

ABC’s “Ugly Betty” (2.8/8) enjoyed a bump, hitting its best numbers since its premiere. “Grey’s Anatomy” (5.4/13) took a tumble week-to-week, down 9%. ABC stressed, however, that “Grey’s” could return to form once DVR numbers are factored in, considering the competition from the World Series.

“Life on Mars” (2.4/7) held steady. ABC took third with a 3.6/9.

The CW’s “Smallville” (1.7/4) and “Supernatural” (1.3/3) also held on from last week, with the network ending the night with a 1.5/4.