Garza Clutch In Pressure Situation

ST. PETERSBURG - It had been about 10 minutes since the Rays had clinched the American League pennant at precisely 11:40 p.m. Sunday, but the celebration on the infield at the Trop was just getting started. Rays players drank in the adoration from fans who weren't ready to leave, maybe never would be ready to leave.

But then, who would want to leave a moment like that?

Standing in the middle of a throng of reporters was Matt Garza. Appropriately, he was near the mound, where he had thrown 118 pitches in one of the big-time efforts you will ever see in a moment where the pressure is at its peak.

"I had a plan; I stuck with the plan," Garza shouted, trying to be heard over the crowd. "I wanted to go right at 'em."

They said Garza could never hold up in a situation like this. He was supposed to be too erratic, or too emotional, or maybe it was just that the Boston Red Sox were too good.

But as the night wound on, with the Rays chasing history, it became clear that whatever doubts there might have been about this sometimes mercurial starting pitcher were misplaced.

He was dynamic. He was huge.

He stared into the eyes of baseball's defending champion and gave the Rays what they had to have. You can say they needed a miracle, but what they really needed was the assortment of high-octane gas and pitches that danced, dived and darted out of the way at the last moment.

Equal To The Moment

That's what they got. For seven-plus innings, Garza was equal to the most important night in Rays history when nothing less would do.

That's how you win a big game.

That's how you win a pennant.

That's what the Rays did.

"Now we're going to the World Series," Garza said, almost as if it hadn't quite soaked in just yet.

But it will.

A few minutes later, Garza was presented with the series MVP award.

"Garza is one of those guys you'd want in this spot in this series," outfielder Rocco Baldelli said. "He was out there to prove to everyone that he could hold them down."

It was Garza's second win in this series, the second time he had gotten the better of Boston starter Jon Lester. The first win in Boston was huge, but it paled compared to this. The Rays were teetering, having lost two straight to force a Game 7. The words for their memorial were being prepared.

And when Boston's Dustin Pedroia, the second man to face Garza, homered, you could hear a flag drop. He followed that by walking David Ortiz. But then, well, what do you call this? He didn't allow another hit until the seventh. And when the Red Sox put a pair of runners on in that inning, Manager Joe Maddon came out to see how things were going.

The conversation went like this:

"He looked at me and said, 'How do you feel?' I said, 'I feel great, you're not taking me out of this game.'"

Maddon didn't.

He retired Mark Kotsay on a fly ball and struck out Jason Varitek to end the inning.

The Rays led 3-1 at that point. That's how the game would end two innings later.

Emptied The Tank

A lot of people figured the Rays were dead when they didn't win Saturday in Game 6. Boston had all the momentum. Boston had Lester, the game's hottest pitcher down the stretch.

The Rays had Garza.

"I told myself from the beginning I had to go hard. I didn't know if today was my last start of the year or what, so I just went out there and emptied my tank."

Maddon expected just that.

"He's a horse," Maddon said. "I'm so proud of him, what he has done this year and how far he has come."

People remember Garza as a hothead from early in the season who couldn't control his emotions. But a lot of people forgot he has some of the most electric stuff in baseball. He was focused, he was in control. The Rays needed every bit of it.

"People doubted us from Day One," Garza said. "People were excited when we got our 70th win. People were happy when we got our 81st win. People said we'd falter in September."

A lot of people thought they'd falter Sunday night.

They didn't. Later, people asked Garza how he did it.

"Keep believing, keep fighting, keep playing like we have all year," Garza said.

Now they get to keep fighting a while longer. The World Series is next.

The Phillies await.

Believe it.