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Unable To Close The Door

TBO.com photo by SCOTT BUTHERUS

The enemy of their enemy is their friend at Tropicana Field in St. Peterburg.

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By JOE HENDERSON

jhenderson@tampatrib.com

Published: October 19, 2008

Updated: 10/19/2008 01:22 am

ST. PETERSBURG - It's not so much that the Rays have squandered two chances to win the American League pennant. No, it's really worse than that. The team that didn't beat itself during the regular season has picked a fine time to become a throwback to the Rays of yore.

That's why even though this series is tied, Boston seems to be in complete control.

The Rays certainly did their part to help that perception Saturday night, flib-flubbing through a 4-2 loss to the Red Sox that puts the weight of a season on Matt Garza tonight in Game 7 of the ALCS.

"Honestly, I disagree with that," Rays manager Joe Maddon said, preferring to lay the loss on a lack of hitting directly attributable to good Boston pitching.

Maybe.

But "Big Game" James Shields was all over the map in 52/3 innings marked by wildness, inconsistency and a home run he surrendered to Jason Varitek. That's the same Jason Varitek who was hitting .115 in the postseason and hadn't had a hit in 15 at-bats in this series.

That was right after the Rays had tied the game at 2 on a Jason Bartlett homer in the fifth. Of course, that homer would have put the Rays ahead if catcher Dioner Navarro, not exactly the swiftest Ray, hadn't been caught trying to steal on a hit-and-run play that went awry just before Bartlett went yard off Josh Beckett.

The Rays might have escaped further damage after Varitek's homer, except that Bartlett made a throwing error with two out in the sixth. It kept things alive just long enough for David Ortiz to drive in the fourth run of the game.

Not Like Themselves

If the Rays lose this series, the autopsy will start with the collapse in the final three innings Thursday at Fenway that turned a champagne celebration into a deflating 8-7 loss. You'll get an argument from Maddon about that, but it is a fact that not much has gone right for the local lads lately.

From the seventh inning in that game through the end of this one, the Rays have been outscored 12-2. Maddon grinned when a reporter asked if the Rays could avoid one of the biggest collapses in postseason history.

"That was a tremendous hyperbole there," he said. "The collapse happened a couple of days ago. That has nothing to do with tomorrow."

But something's missing. We know how dominant the Rays have been against Boston at the Trop, and when B.J. Upton homered with one out in the first to put the Rays ahead it would have normally been the signal to begin the cavalry charge. But Shields never seemed to have the right stuff on this night.

"I thought we did OK," Shields said. "It was a tough loss. I didn't do a very good job tonight of holding the lead or holding it when we were tied. That was a big factor in this game."

Control is one of his best traits, but it wasn't there this time. He walked three guys in the third around a double by Ortiz.

"We just didn't hit the ball tonight," Maddon said. "Shields was not on top of his game, but he gave us a chance to win. We started out pretty well with B.J.'s home run, but we just couldn't string anything together."

I'm not saying the Rays dragged the carcass of that lost seven-run lead from that game into Saturday night, but it is a fact that since taking that big lead they have stopped doing the things that got them here.

The bullpen, so lights-out all season, hasn't been able to get the big out when it had to, starting on Thursday. The defense, so reliable, has been shaky. The clutch hits have been harder to find.

Sox Hang Tough

The Red Sox are the defending champions for a reason; this was Boston's ninth consecutive ALCS win when facing elimination. Maybe there really is something to this thing of knowing how to close the deal. Now we'll find out if the Rays can do just that.

"It's all about how we react to the moment, and it's a seventh game," Maddon said.

Well, that moment happens to be a defining one, even in a season that up to now has been pure magic. If the Rays win, everyone will call it the maturation of a young team on the rise. If they don't, they'll wear the label of a team that hasn't learned how to close the deal.

To avoid the latter, the Rays who won their way to this point need to show up. If they don't, they might not get another chance. At least not until next season.

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