Rays Beat Red Sox, Advance To World Series
21/10/2008 01:35
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Down to their last chance, the Tampa Bay Rays left no doubt they were World Series-worthy, after all.
Believe it: Baseball's doormats have arrived.
Going from worst to first, the young Rays completed a stunning run to their first pennant, holding off the defending champion Boston Red Sox 3-1 Sunday night behind Matt Garza's masterful pitching in Game 7 of the AL championship series.
"It's unbelievable," centre-fielder B.J. Upton said. "We battled a lot of adversity this year. We stuck together as a team."
And, they showed a bit of Boston-like resolve when they needed it.
The Rays nearly let the series slip away when they blew a seven-run lead late in Game 5 and lost meekly Saturday night. But when rookie David Price struck out J.D. Drew with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning, the Rays were on their way.
Price, who didn't make his major league debut until late September, also worked the ninth, walking Trail, B.C., native Jason Bay and striking out Mark Kotsay and Jason Varitek before getting pinch-hitter Jed Lowrie ground into a game-ending force play.
Tampa Bay's worst to first saga was the feel-good story of this season, and it probably was fitting that Price - the least experienced of the young Rays - was on the mound at the most critical point of the ALCS.
"Minimal experience, but I was not hesitant," manager Joe Maddon said.
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SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
It’s nice to see former doormats, like the Tampa Bay Rays, advance to the World Series. Now all they have to do to cap this “Cinderella” story is beat the Philadelphia Phillies, starting tomorrow night.