WOW! Amazing! Incredible! Rays Win, Rays Win, Rays Win!
Ok, so my thoughts are bit jumbled. Can you blame me?! If you saw what I saw you’re probably just as jumbled!
What an amazing game! All facets of the game came together last night to culminate in a Rays romping of the “invincible” Red Sox 13-4. Yes, you read that correctly. The Tampa Bay Rays dismantled the Boston Red Sox in Fenway. Great to see Red Sox Nation spilling onto Yawkey Way before the 7th inning!
Andy Sonnanstine pitched a gem on the big stage once again. He pitched a very strong 7.1 innings scattering 6 hits and 1 free pass while allowing 3 ER. Sonny has been thriving on this big stage! You’ll remember he was the winning pitcher in the final game of the ALDS as he shut down the powerful White Sox bats as well. Sonny’s location was excellent! He might not have the speed on his pitches but his use of his pitches, the movement and location have made Sonny a 13 game winner during the regular season and 2-0 in the postseason. He was fantastic!
While Sonny was shutting down the bats the Rays offense was pummeling the Red Sox pitching staff. SP Tim Wakefield gave up 3 runs in the first inning and lasted on 2 2/3 innings. The bull pen did not fair any better. The Rays had amazing at bats and made good use of each hit. In total the Rays banged out 14 hits, half of which were for extra bases. The hit parade included home runs from Evan Longoria (setting the rookie playoff record for HR in Oct), Carlos Pena, and Willy Aybar. The “Green Monster” has not fazed this team at all. These guys are hitting the ball out of Fenway to the street! The hits kept coming with triples by Jason Bartlett and Carl Crawford who also added 2 doubles. Crawford had a day at the dish for himself. He was 5-5 with 3 runs scored, 2 RBI’s and 2 stolen bases. Only 2 other players in MLB history have done this is postseason play. Aybar tried to keep up with CC but fell a hit short going 4-5 with 5 RBI’s and a run scored.
The defense was stellar. Even though the Rays committed 3 errors, Longo had 2 on 1 play and Upton over ran a grounder on another, the defense showed how it has supported the Rays pitching staff all season long. Upton made several nice catches running a long way, CC made some nice plays off the Green Monster to hold hitters to 1 base and the middle infield turned a nice double play to silence the anxious Fenway crowd. With the defense behind them the pitching staff is not afraid to attack the strike zone. This has led to a worst to first season for this team!
Keep it going Rays! Let’s celebrate on the green grass of Fenway!!!
