Sports
Rays Clinch Series, Enjoy Another Champagne Shower
Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO
Rocco Baldelli, left, dumps champagne on Andy Sonnanstine as Fernando Perez, second from right, and Ben Zobrist, far right, join in after their American League Division Series win over the Chicago White Sox.
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Published: October 6, 2008
Updated: 10/07/2008 05:44 am
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Three champagne celebrations down, two to go.
The Tampa Bay Rays' magical 2008 season motored ahead Monday as they topped the Chicago White Sox 6-2 to win their best-of-five American League Division Series 3-1.
It's on to the AL Championship Series for the Rays, who will open play against the Boston Red Sox on Friday.
The Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 late Monday in Boston to clinch that Division Series in four games.
The Rays hold the home-field advantage in the best-of-seven ALCS and will host Game 1 on Friday and Game 2 on Saturday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. Tickets for those games sold out during Monday's online presale. Games 3 and 4 are at Fenway Park in Boston.
Clearly, Rays fans are ready to continue the party, and their team keeps raising the bar when it comes to reveling in victories. Some Rays had vowed that their ALDS-clinching celebration would outshine the madness that ensued at the Trop when they clinched a playoff spot and in Detroit when they locked up the AL East title.
Some die-hard fans met the team when it arrived at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport about 1:30 this morning. They shook cowbells and yelled "go Rays" from behind the chain-link fence. A few players waved, but the team quickly boarded three charter buses to head to Tropicana Field to retrieve their cars.
The fans didn't mind. "We are here to cheer on these Rays," Scott Mesick said. "They did a great job for us and we're here to let them know we support them."
"I'm stoked," Keith Morgan said.
"This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Brian Damm added.
The Rays kicked off their celebration in Chicago by mobbing reliever Grant Balfour between home plate and the pitcher's mound after he struck out Ken Griffey Jr. to end the series.
As the Rays move on, they'll have to hope the hero of Monday's clincher continues to swing the bat as he has the last couple of days. B.J. Upton homered twice off White Sox starter Gavin Floyd to get the Rays off to a hot start, pounding long solo drives in the first and third innings after hitting a two-run blast in the seventh inning of Sunday's loss. He hit just nine homers in 145 regular-season games this year.
That quick start and a leaping catch at the fence by right fielder Gabe Gross in the bottom of the first sucked the life out of U.S. Cellular Field early on and the energy that sparked the White Sox in Game 3 returned only sporadically through the balance of the game.
The Rays tacked on two more runs in the fourth on an RBI double by Cliff Floyd and a single by Dioner Navarro to build a 4-0 lead before Chicago made its first dent in Andy Sonnanstine.
In his first appearance since Sept. 26, the crafty right-hander performed as well as the Rays could have asked in surrendering only solo homers to Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye in his 5 2/3 innings. Sonnanstine now has an even 3.00 ERA in five career starts against the White Sox.
From there, it was up to the Rays' world-beating bullpen. J.P. Howell was first out of the chute, finishing off the sixth before working a scoreless seventh. He pitched in all three Rays wins in the series, holding the Sox without a run and striking out six in 4 1/3 innings.
Then it was Balfour, who handled an eighth inning that included dispatching his nemesis Orlando Cabrera for the third time in the series before closing it out in the ninth.
The relievers had some extra cushion thanks to Carlos Pena, who drove in a couple more big runs for the Rays with singles in the fifth and seventh. The second of those, which put Tampa Bay up 6-2, may have been a fortunate break for the Rays.
Hard-throwing lefty Matt Thornton appeared to have struck Pena out on a 0-2 fastball right down the middle, but plate umpire Jeff Kellogg ruled it high, drawing the ire of the Chicago crowd and some choice words from White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. After fouling off the next two offerings, Pena roped a single to right to bring home Jason Bartlett, who had opened the inning with a double.
Tacking on runs late kept the White Sox from reclaiming any momentum, and it wasn't long before the party was on once again for Tampa Bay.
News Channel 8 reporters Krista Klaus and Peter Bernard contributed to this report. Tribune reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227.
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