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Rays Walk Off With A 2-1 Victory Against Red Sox

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Dioner Navarro is swamped by his team after hitting a walk-off RBI in the bottom of the ninth against Boston.

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 17, 2008

Updated: 09/17/2008 12:11 am

ST. PETERSBURG - The Rays could have been forgiven for playing with a sense of desperation Tuesday night.

First place was on the verge of slipping from their grasp after two long months atop the AL East, and who could tell what might happen after that if the playoff-seasoned Red Sox were given that kind of an opening? For one more night, Tampa Bay had enough to table that question.

Returning to the formula that led to a couple of thrilling wins at Fenway Park last week, the Rays prevailed 2-1 on a game-winning hit by Dioner Navarro that followed outstanding pitching across the board and a huge opposite-field homer by Carlos Pena.

Big win? No doubt about it.

"It means a lot, especially in the situation we were in," Navarro said. "We were tied for first place, and we knew that if we gave a break to this team, they're going to take advantage of it."

Navarro hammered a 2-2 pitch from Justin Masterson to the wall in center field with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth to set off the latest wild celebration in the wake of the Rays' 11th walk-off win.

It was the culmination of the type of game that has carried the Rays to 89 victories this season, with stellar mound work backed by just enough offense at just the right time. As Navarro said, the Rays certainly needed this win, but they worked their way through nine charged innings without acting as if it mattered.

They weathered a dazzling outing from Josh Beckett, who retired the first 13 batters he faced before Cliff Floyd singled with one out in the fifth, and didn't appear particularly surprised when Pena came through in the clutch once again.

He led off the seventh by lifting a first-pitch curveball from Beckett just high enough to clear the fence in left field, a placement reminiscent of his shot over the Green Monster a week ago tonight that won the game for the Rays in the 14th inning.

"Ninety-eight percent of the guys in the big leagues would fly out to left field on that," Beckett said, "but he's strong, and you can't leave a pitch up to him like that."

Pena's 15th homer since the All-Star break sent the Rays-leaning crowd at Tropicana Field into a frenzy and the positive vibes endured. Momentum seemed to tip further toward the home team in the top of the eighth when Navarro gunned down Jacoby Ellsbury on an attempted steal to second - something the catcher didn't think he'd ever done before.

Navarro's big hit in the ninth felt familiar, though. It was the All-Star who last week at Fenway Park drove in Fernando Perez with what proved to be the winning run after Dan Johnson's homer tied it up.

This time, Navarro brought home Jason Bartlett, whose bloop single to right started things off. Pena followed with a walk that might not have been if a ball hadn't rolled from the Red Sox bullpen onto the field of play, wiping out a Masterson pitch that would have put the slugger in a 1-2 hole. After Evan Longoria struck out for the third time in the game, Cliff Floyd was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Navarro took over from there.

After Masterson made him look bad flailing at a slider, Navarro expected a fastball and got it, driving it hard to center to spark the Rays' latest joyous melee. Manager Joe Maddon noted that he never saw Navarro panic in the midst of an at-bat that saw him go from 2-0 to 2-2, exhibiting the kind of composure that has marked the entire team in crucial situations this season.

"As we get into more significant games," Maddon said, "I'd like to believe that we're starting to learn how to do that, because that, to me, is huge in regard to winning in the postseason, is to be able to maintain composure. Keeping your head while everyone else around you is losing theirs."

The Rays' pitching staff was on that page Tuesday night, as Andy Sonnanstine continued his remarkable run against the Red Sox by allowing only one unearned run in six innings - the same results he achieved in seven innings at Fenway Park in a duel with Beckett a week ago tonight.

His work was followed by more of the same from Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell and Dan Wheeler, who kept a Red Sox offense that had demonstrated its capabilities the previous evening completely in check.

"I think we've learned from Fenway and this whole series all year that it's going to come down to the end," Howell said, "and if we can hang in there until the very end and not be too scared, we'll be all right."

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