Now be serious... did you really think the Rays would destroy Lester and the Red Sox the way they did today? I was confident that they would play tough over the next three games, but what happened today was just a continuation of the magical summer of baseball.The announcers on TBS were saying that the Red Sox HAD to win this game. And honestly, it looked good for them. They had Jon Lester going for them. The guy hadn't given up an earned run in his last 3 postseason outings (including game 4 of last year's world series and the 1st 2 games he pitched in the ALDS this year).
But these Rays just keep coming at you. It is really uncanny the way they are playing in these pressure packed games. Then again, maybe we don't need to remind them they are are 2 wins away from the World Series.If Upton keeps this pace up, he may hit more homers in the postseason than he did in the regular season. Longoria is back to being locked in and Pena is crushing the ball. Nice to see Baldelli go deep tonight. All that hitting is great, but the story of the game, I think, was the pitching. According to the announcers Garza fell behind on 19 of the 27 batters he faced. He only three 63 pitches for strikes out of 116 in 6 innings. So, obviously, he wasn't on his "A" game. However, he showed that he could be a grinder in a critical postseason game and get his team a quality start when he didn't have his stuff. Of course, Howell did his normal great job and the the manager we just can't seem to predict, Joe Maddon, let's Jackson close out the game. I think Maddon is doing a great job of getting these guys some postseason experience so they can be ready for anything as they continue to progress.
We have tickets for game 6 at home, but to be honest... I'd happily watch them sweep in Boston and rest up for the series. Can you believe what I just wrote, I can't... "Rest up for the Series!!!"
Wow! Go Rays,
- Steve
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