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Rays Recap: A Long, Wild Ride

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 12, 2008

Inning-by-inning, a look at the Rays 9-8 win over the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of the ALCS:

1st inning

Sox 2-2-0
Rays 2-2-0

Top half: Scott Kazmir allows two-out, two-run double to Jason Bay (on 3-2 offering) in 38-pitch inning.

Bottom half: Evan Longoria smashes two-out, two-run, game-tying homer.

2nd inning

Sox 0-0-0
Rays 0-1-0

Top half: It's a 1-2-3 inning (and just 12 pitches) for Kazmir.

Bottom half: Josh Beckett allows one-out single to Dioner Navarro, but strikes out the side.

3rd inning

Sox 1-1-0
Rays 2-3-0

Top half: Dustin Pedroia hits leadoff homer, but Kazmir escapes further damage.

Bottom half: B.J. Upton answers with solo homer; Longoria doubles and scores on Carl Crawford's two-out single.

4th inning

Sox 0-1-0
Rays 1-1-0

Top half: Coco Crisp smacks two-out double, but Jacoby Ellsbury pops out.

Bottom half: Cliff Floyd leads off with monster homer off center-field restaurant façade.

5th inning

Sox 3-3-0
Rays 3-3-0

Top half: Pedroia – bam! Kevin Youkilis – bam! (Kazmir gone). Bay – bam! And the Red Sox lead, 6-5.

Bottom half: Rays finish Beckett; Carlos Pena (single), Longoria (double) and Crawford (single) with RBIs.

6th inning

Sox 1-2-0
Rays 0-1-0

Top half: The insanity continues – Bay gets two-out RBI single off Chad Bradford – but Red Sox strand two runners.

Bottom half: Jason Bartlett stranded after one-out infield hit.

7th inning

Sox 0-1-0
Rays 0-0-0

Top half: Crisp collects two-out single off Bradford's glove, but it's harmless.

Bottom half: Hideki Okajima gets gift from the Baseball Gods – a 1-2-3 inning.

8th inning

Sox 1-1-0
Rays 0-0-0

Top half: Dan Wheeler's two-out wild pitch sends in Pedroia with the tying run.

Bottom half: Another 1-2-3 inning for Okajima.

9th inning

Sox 0-1-0
Rays 0-1-0

Top half: Crisp collects two-out double, but Wheeler strikes out Ellsbury.

Bottom half: One-out single by Akinori Iwamura wasted when Upton, Pena strike out.

10th inning

Sox 0-0-0
Rays 0-0-0

Top half: Wheeler gets 1-2-3 inning; Youkilis' long fly tracked down by Upton.

Bottom half: Jonathan Papelbon gets Rays 1-2-3.

11th inning

Sox 0-0-0
Rays 1-0-0

Top half: Red Sox get two baserunners on walks, but strand them both.

Bottom half: Rays end it on Upton's sacrifice fly, when pinch-runner Fernando Perez scores from third.

Star Of The Game: Evan Longoria

Longoria was badly slumping – 1-for-16 and hitless in his last 13 at-bats – going into Game 2 of the American League Championship Series. He said he just needed one good at-bat to clear up things. Done! Longoria belted a game-tying two-run homer in the first inning. Later, he doubled and scored in the third. Then he knocked in Tampa Bay's lead run with another double in the fifth. He was 3-for-4 with three RBIs – not a bad recovery for the rookie.

Key Decision

To every fan who chose not to beat the traffic. To every bleary-eyed viewer who hung around until 1:35 a.m. Wasn't that worth it?

Play Of The Game

The mad dash from third base by pinch-runner Fernando Perez on B.J. Upton's medium fly ball to right field in the 11th inning. Perez beat the off-line throw by J.D. Drew.

Quirky Play

Dan Wheeler, the fifth Tampa Bay pitcher, had just retired scorching-hot Kevin Youkilis on a double-play ball in the eight. But Wheeler sailed a high wild pitch to Jason Bay, and Dustin Pedroia charged home from third. Catcher Dioner Navarro got the ball off the backstop cleanly, but his underhand toss was low to the plate, Wheeler fumbled it away, and Pedroia tied the game, 8-8.

Critical Moment

Wheeler, wobbling a bit, gave up a two-out ground-rule double to Coco Crisp (over B.J. Upton's head in center) in the ninth. But he struck out Jacoby Ellsbury to end the threat and set up Tampa Bay for the victory.

Crunching The Numbers

So what kind of tone did Boston's 2-0 shutout win set in Game 1? The last four teams that opened a postseason with a road shutout victory all went on to lose that series – the 2004 Minnesota Twins (winning 2-0 at Yankee Stadium in the ALDS), the 2001 Cleveland Indians (winning 5-0 at Seattle in the ALDS), the 2000 Seattle Mariners (winning 2-0 at Yankee Stadium in the ALCS) and the 1986 Boston Red Sox (winning 1-0 at Shea Stadium in the World Series). The last team to earn an opening-game road shutout win and take the series was the 1983 Philadelphia Phillies (after winning 1-0 at the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLCS).

Our Take

Exhausted, aren't you? Well, you aren't alone. The Rays expended every bit of psychic and physical energy they had in the tank to pull this one out. It was a classic. Now it's off to Fenway Park, the former house of horrors, where the Rays took two of three in their last visit. They need one victory in Boston to assure a return to Tropicana Field. Given the Rays' brinksmanship in the last month, that's a minimum standard. This still looks like a seven-game series in our eyes.

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