ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -They failed to finish it off in Fenway.
They failed to finish it off at home.
Now the Tampa Bay Rays are down to their last chance.
Two days after blowing a seven-run lead in an 8-7 loss at Boston, Tampa Bay dropped a 4-2 decision at Tropicana Field in the AL championship series on Saturday night.
The Red Sox evened the series and forced a Game 7 for Sunday night. Matt Garza will face Boston’s Jon Lester, with the winner advancing to the World Series to play the Philadelphia Phillies.
Tampa Bay was on the brink of its first pennant Thursday night, but nothing has gone right for the Rays since they took 7-0 lead in the seventh inning of Game 5 at Fenway Park.
Boston batted the Rays’ bullpen for eight runs and won it in the ninth on J.D. Drew’s RBI single, sending the series back to Florida.
this season.
B.J. Upton’s seventh postseason homer put Tampa Bay ahead 1-0 in the first. Jason Bartlett’s fifth-inning drive tied it at 2.
But that was it for the Rays, and Boston earned its ninth straight win when facing elimination in the ALCS.
Maddon has seen this script before. He was a minor league manager in the Angels organization in 1986 and watched from the stands with his team up 3-1 in the ALCS over Boston, and one strike away from taking Game 5. Dave Henderson then homered and the Red Sox won in extra innings en route to three straight wins and trip to the World Series.
Now Maddon and the Rays are down to their last chance to prevent a similar comeback.
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