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Drew Caps Remarkable Rally

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Boston's Kevin Youkilis, right, and Jed Lowrie celebrate a ground rule double by J.D. Drew scoring Youkilis and giving Boston a 9-8 win over the Rays.

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 17, 2008

Star Of The Game: J.D. Drew

Drew led the Red Sox's dramatic 8-7 comeback victory against the Rays on Thursday night in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. Drew's two-run homer in the eighth inning pulled Boston within 7-6. In the ninth with two outs, Drew's RBI single drove in the winning run. Drew's heroics overshadowed Rays center fielder B.J. Upton, who smashed his sixth home run of the playoffs. Only Barry Bonds (eight in 2002), Carlos Beltran (eight in 2004) and Troy Glaus (seven in 2002) have more in a single postseason. Overall, Upton went 3-for-4 with four RBIs.

Key Decision

There were no problems with Joe Maddon's move to start Scott Kazmir in Game 5. Kazmir was largely superb in six shutout innings (two hits allowed, three walks, seven strikeouts). But there was a big problem in sticking with struggling reliever Grant Balfour in the seventh. One run was in, two runners were on, and up stepped left-handed hitting David Ortiz. Maddon stayed with Balfour with two outs - disdaining J.P. Howell for the lefty-on-lefty matchup - and Ortiz drilled a three-run homer (breaking his 0-for-61 skid without a homer in the postseason). The Red Sox, trailing 7-4, were back in the game.

Play Of The Game

With two outs in the ninth, Rays third baseman Evan Longoria made a nice backhanded stab of Kevin Youkilis' grounder, but bounced his throw and it hopped past Carlos Pena. Maddon elected to intentionally walk Jason Bay, then J.D. Drew delivered a game-winning RBI single over Gabe Gross' head in right field.

Critical (Early) Moment

Kazmir was in good shape to finish the second inning and preserve the Rays' 2-0 lead. But with two outs, he hit Jason Varitek. Then Mark Kotsay followed with a single. Up stepped leadoff batter Coco Crisp (.300 lifetime against Kazmir). But Kazmir regained his command, got ahead on the count and blew away Crisp, who whiffed on strike three.

Critical (Late) Moment

The Rays led 7-6 in the eighth when Mark Kotsay lifted a two-out double over Upton's head in center field. Crisp and Wheeler locked into an epic 10-pitch at-bat - Crisp fouled off four straight 3-2 pitches by Dan Wheeler - before the game-tying RBI single was delivered.

Crunching The Numbers

The Rays continue to make powerful statements. The Rays have hit 19 homers in nine postseason games (10 in three games at Fenway Park). The Philadelphia Phillies hit 10 in nine National League postseason games, and the Red Sox also had 10. The Los Angeles Dodgers hit eight homers in nine postseason games.

Our Take

The champagne remains on ice. It was a collapse of monumental proportions - losing after taking a seven-run lead into the seventh inning - and one question remains. How did it happen? Slowly, the Red Sox patched things together. The Rays could've escaped any number of times, but didn't. They remain in control of the ALCS. Um, we think. Sometimes, the momentum swings wildly in postseason baseball when a team is backed into a corner, then comes back. Game 6 still looks like a good matchup - James Shields vs. Josh Beckett - but one thing seems certain. The Rays do not want to see a seventh game.

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