ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -Matt Garza limited the Boston Red Sox to one hit through six innings, and the Tampa Bay Rays got RBIs from Evan Longoria and Rocco Baldelli to take a 2-1 lead in Game 7 of the AL championship series Sunday night.
The winner hosts Philadelphia in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night.
Longoria’s fourth-inning double off Jon Lester erased a 1-0 lead the Red Sox took on Dustin Pedroia first-inning homer. Baldelli’s single on an 0-2 pitch put the Rays ahead in the fifth after Willy Aybar doubled and Dioner Navarro reached on an infield single.
Pedroia’s one-out shot in the first was the only hit off Garza, who took the mound for Tampa Bay with something – perhaps cotton balls – stuffed in his ears to help drown out the noise at sold-out Tropicana Field.
arza fanned Ortiz to end the inning.
With the tarps covering nearly 5,800 seats in the upper deck removed for the second straight night, more than 40,000 fans packed Tropicana Field for a rematch of the starting pitchers from Game 3, won by Tampa Bay 9-1 at Fenway Park.
Many fans wore Red Sox gear and were even more noticeable when they stood and cheered as Pedroia circled the bases after lining a pitch into the left-field stands.
It was Pedroia’s third homer and ninth run of the series.
Lester gave up two homers in falling behind 5-0 early in Game 3, but looked sharp Sunday night for three innings.
Leadoff man Akinori Iwamura singled for the first hit off the left-hander in the fourth. After B.J. Upton struck out and Carlos Pena grounded into a force play at second, Longoria sliced an opposite-field double to right that enabled a sliding Pena to score from first base.
The Red Sox had a play at the plate, but the relay throw from second baseman Pedroia was up the line a bit.
Baldelli’s hit made it 2-1 with no outs in the fifth. But Jason Bartlett struck out, Iwamura grounded back to Lester and Upton hit a soft liner to shortstop, stranding runners at second and third.
the World Series the last two times.
Saturday night’s 4-2 victory in Game 6 improved the team’s record to 9-0 in ALCS elimination games under manager Terry Francona.
“Once you kind of dig yourselves in a hole, you either win or go home. And we’ve been fortunate, and they’re all different cases because they’re different teams,” Francona said before Sunday night’s game. “But all the teams have that same kind of common denominator that they don’t stop playing and they dig deep.”
The Rays were trying to extend a remarkable run that saw them win more than 70 games in a season for the first time, hold off the Red Sox to win their first AL East championship and make the playoffs for the first time.
Manager Joe Maddon was confident his team would not be overwhelmed by appearing in the franchise’s first Game 7.
“We’re doing a lot of things well. We play a pretty complete game, and I think we can beat you in a variety of different ways,” Maddon said. “But then again, it’s going to be reduced to pitching and defense like it always is for us.”
Add A Comment