Rays Prove to Be Too Much For the Red Sox

The game started off so well; Pedroia's early homer and Lester mowing them down in order. The Rays tied it up in the 4th and took the lead in the 5th. Garza settled in and became untouchable, giving up just one more hit until he was pulled after 7 innings. Lester pitched well too but gave up a big homer in the 7th to Aybar. The Red Sox had a chance to comeback in the 8th but could not come up with a big hit and J.D. Drew struck out to end the top half of the inning. After striking out Drew in the 8th, Price returned to pitch the 9th. Bay drew a walk but then Kotsay and Tek both struck out. Lowrie grounded out to end the season for Boston. The Rays looked like the American League champs tonight and will be tough in the World Series. They have some good young talent and should be in the picture for years to come. The Red Sox have some big questions to answer in the offseason but we will get to those in the coming days. On a side note, I was on the live blog at WEEI.com during the game and Curt Schilling logged on to chat for a few innings, he was as outspoken as usual. Thanks to all of the readers who have stayed with Fenway West for our first season on the net and remember that even though the games are over, we cover the Red Sox year round.

Congrats to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Red Sox Lose 3-1 BOX SCORE

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Rays Lineup for Game 7 of the ALCS

Baldelli is back in there for Tampa Bay:

Iwamura 2B
Upton CF
Pena 1B
Longoria 3B
Crawford LF
Aybar DH
Navarro C
Baldelli RF
Bartlett SS

Garza SP

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Red Sox Lineup For Game 7 of the ALCS

Coco stays at the top even though Ellsbury has a good history against Garza and Cora will be in at short.

Coco Crisp, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Bay, LF
Mark Kotsay, 1B
Jason Varitek, C
Alex Cora, SS

Jon Lester, SP

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A Game Day Decision

In preparing for the upcoming final game of the ALCS, I am facing a dilemma. I look into my closest to pick my Red Sox shirt for the game and I don't know which one to pick.

Do I go with Tek, the hero of last night? My Tek shirt is old enough that it does not have the "C" on it and this could be the last time he plays a game for the Red Sox.

Do I go with the Papelbon shirt? Paps ended last night's game with such determination that he embodies the confidence of the Red Sox.

Do I go with the Big Papi jersey? Ortiz got the series turned around but it is a home jersey and the Sox are on the road.

Do I go with my Yankee Hater "Sox in Seven" shirt from 2004? It does seem appropriate but it is aimed at the Yankees.

In the end I go with a no name Red Sox shirt. After all, this is going to take a team effort, but I did pick one with a shamrock on it just in case.

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Panic By the Bay

As Game 7 fast approaches, one team from the American League is set to play its last game of the season. The Red Sox have been there before, multiple times with mixed results, and recent history is on their side. The Rays are in a state of shock, their hitting has dried up, their pitching has been shaky and now their fans and some of their players are beginning to panic. Here's a few examples of the fear and why they should be afraid:

Game 7 is Rays' shot at history- St. Petersburg Times

The Rays can say they are not shaken. They can pretend their nerves are not frayed. They can act as if they will take the field this evening with their usual carefree outlook on the world.

But history suggests they are scared hitless.

Who Would You Rather Be Tonight? - Tampa Tribune

They spend the winter thinking about being seven runs up and seven outs away from the AL pennant the other night in Boston. That's their Bartman.

Rays of (False?) Hope - WEEI

“We know what happened. We were on the damn field,” Floyd continued. “You never put it out of your mind. You never completely get over what happened the other night. Hell, we’re all human. I think the most important thing is you don’t want to watch it over and over and over and read the same thing.”

Yet that is precisely what the Rays will find it nearly impossible to avoid. Whether or not the team has moved on, all of its members face questions about where the American League Championship Series went off the rails.

A comment from a dbayrays.com reader:

but it’s going to be awfully tough. Garza in a Game 7 makes me extremely nervous… which one is going to show up?

I’ve never believed in momentum, but when you give a team like Boston life after having the series all but wrapped up, the other team does get a ton of confidence. I also don’t believe in “comeback magic” but Boston can do no f'ing wrong when they get down big in these series. Like I said earlier, it’s like they almost purposely get down in these series.

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