ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -Kevin Youkilis homered and hit an RBI grounder to give the Boston Red Sox a 2-1 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays after three innings of AL championship series Game 6 on Saturday night.
B.J. Upton tied an AL record with his seventh home run of the postseason for Tampa Bay, which led the series three games to two and would earn its first trip to the World Series with a win.
Upton homered in the first inning off Josh Beckett, driving the ball off one of the catwalks that support the roof at Tropicana Field. Upton tied Troy Glaus (2002) with his seventh homer in a single postseason, one behind record-holders Barry Bonds (2002) and Carlos Beltran (2004).
Youkilis led off the second inning with his drive into the left center-field seats off James Shields. He put the Red Sox ahead in the third when he grounded out after Dustin Pedroia walked and raced to third on David Ortiz’s double down the right-field line.
Shields walked the next two batters, J.D. Drew and Jason Bay, loading the bases with two outs. The right-hander, who lost Game 1 despite only allowing two runs in 7 1-3 innings, escaped by retiring Mark Kotsay on a flyout.
The Red Sox, trying to stave off elimination for the second straight game, rallied from a 7-0, seventh-inning deficit to win Game 5 by 8-7 at Fenway Park on Thursday night, the biggest postseason comeback since 1929.
TBS had technical difficulties that prevented it from televising the first 20 minutes of Game 6.
The game started at 8:08 p.m., but the broadcast didn’t begin until 8:28 p.m., when Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena was batting in the bottom of the first. Pena walked, and then the network showed a replay of Upton’s homer.
TBS had experienced router failure in Atlanta, which caused transmission problems, Rays spokesman Dave Haller said.
TBS spokesman Jeff Pomeroy didn’t immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Major League Baseball spokesman Rich Levin said MLB was unaware there was a problem until the broadcast failed to come on the air. No consideration was given to delaying the start of the game because the starting pitchers already had warmed up, Levin said.
The winner of the ALCS begins the World Series at home Wednesday night against the well-rested Philadelphia Phillies, who won the NL pennant over the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
the first two of the ALCS at Tropicana Field, winning Game 2 9-8 in 11 innings after homering three times and scoring eight runs off Beckett in 4 1-3 innings.
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