Oct 14, 2008 - 9:15 AM
4 shoutsAmerican League Championship Series Rays lead 2-1
Tampa Bay at Boston 8:07 p.m. EDT
BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Rays have used the long ball to take the lead in the American League Championship Series.
The Rays look to continue the power surge on Tuesday when they meet the Boston Red Sox in Game Four at Fenway Park.
Tampa Bay evened the series by launching three home runs en route to a marathon 9-8, 11-inning victory against the Red Sox during Game Three on Saturday in a contest that last nearly 5 1/2 hours.
The Rays improved their homer total in Game Four, stroking four blasts during Monday's 9-1 rout to take a two-games-to-one advantage in the best of seven series.
"It's always a matter of execution. Regardless of the best-laid plans, it's always about execution," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "(Monday) we had a plan, we had a game plan, we stayed with it, and eventually we got pitches that we could handle."
After taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning Monday, the Rays struck for four runs in the third. B.J. Upton ripped a three-run homer over the Green Monster in left field before rookie Evan Longoria registered a solo blast two batters later off Red Sox starter Jon Lester.
Maddon believes the confidence of Upton, 24, and the 23-year-old Longoria have helped them find success in the postseason despite their youth.
"If you feel like you belong there, it matters," Maddon said. "Regardless of your age or level of experience, if you feel like you belong, thus your talents can come out. If you don't, you can be the most talented person in the world and your talents aren't going to show up.
"They feel like they belong here, and that's a big reason why they've been able to perform with calm and permit everybody to see how good they are."
Rocco Baldelli added a three-run homer in the eighth and Carlos Pena capped the scoring with a solo home run in the ninth.
Matt Garza allowed one run and six hits in six innings, walking three while striking out five to earn the win.
"My job was to get as many outs as possible, and I came up with a game plan, and it was what I did (in Game Three)," Garza said. "Stay hard and make them hit my fastball."
Andy Sonnanstine hopes to duplicate Garza's performance when he takes the mound for the Rays on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old righthander, who went 13-9 with a 4.38 ERA during the regular season, made two starts against Boston in September. Despite taking a pair of no decisions, Sonnanstine was stellar, surrendering two unearned runs and seven hits in 13 innings as the Rays won both games.
"It should help me a lot," said Sonnanstine about the two outings. "You know, build up my confidence a little bit, knowing that I can come in here and do well against the Sox here and Tropicana Field. So I know in my mind that it can be done. I think it was pretty essential for my confidence."
Taking the mound for the Red Sox will be Tim Wakefield, who was 10-11 with a 4.13 ERA in 30 starts this campaign.
The 42-year-old knuckleballer was 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA in three starts against the Rays in 2008. Wakefield was pounded for six runs and six hits, including three homers, in 2 1/3 innings the last time he faced Tampa Bay on September 17 - a 10-3 loss.
However, Wakefield has had plenty of success against the Rays during his career. He owns a 19-5 record and 3.32 ERA in 41 games - 31 starts - lifetime. Red Sox manager Terry Francona hopes that Wakefield recalls his previous form on Tuesday.
"His career numbers are fantastic against them," Francona said. "There's been some struggles this year at times. Part of that is the fact that they're now a 97-win team as opposed to 67. Some of it is they have different players.
"Some of the career matchups - Wake is always going to be a guy - you look at his matchups, there will be some (players who are) 2-for-30 and there will be somebody who's 10-for-20. There's always some interesting matchups vs. Wake."
From the Bleachers
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TAMPA BAY: 13
BOSTON: 4
Final
Oct 14 11:14 PM -
AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY KEVIN YOUKILIS SCORED DUSTIN PEDROIA.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, K YOUKILIS ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 13
BOSTON 4 BOTTOM, 8TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J BAY (.429, 1-FOR-3)
Oct 14 10:50 PM -
AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY DUSTIN PEDROIA SCORED JED LOWRIE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, D PEDROIA ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 13
BOSTON 3 BOTTOM, 8TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: D ORTIZ (.077, 1-FOR-3)
Oct 14 10:45 PM -
AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY WILLY AYBAR SCORED CARL CRAWFORD.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, W AYBAR ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 13
BOSTON 2 TOP, 8TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: D NAVARRO (.200, 1-FOR-3, BB, RBI)
Oct 14 10:37 PM -
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AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY CARL CRAWFORD SCORED CARLOS PENA.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C CRAWFORD ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 12
BOSTON 2 TOP, 8TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: W AYBAR (.455, 3-FOR-4, HR, 4 RBI)
Oct 14 10:36 PM -
AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY KEVIN YOUKILIS SCORED DAVID ORTIZ.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 11
BOSTON 2 BOTTOM, 7TH
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J BAY (.385, 0-FOR-2)
Oct 14 10:19 PM -
AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY DIONER NAVARRO SCORED EVAN LONGORIA.
SITUATION: 5 RUNS IN, W AYBAR ON SECOND, C CRAWFORD ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 11
BOSTON 1 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: F PEREZ (.000, 0-FOR-3)
Oct 14 10:01 PM -
AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY WILLY AYBAR SCORED CARLOS PENA.
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, W AYBAR ON FIRST, C CRAWFORD ON SECOND, E
LONGORIA ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 10
BOSTON 1 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: D NAVARRO (.214, 1-FOR-2, BB)
Oct 14 9:57 PM -
AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY CARL CRAWFORD SCORED B.J. UPTON.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, C CRAWFORD ON FIRST, E LONGORIA ON SECOND, C
PENA ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 9
BOSTON 1 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: W AYBAR (.400, 2-FOR-3, HR, 3 RBI)
Oct 14 9:55 PM -
AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
BASES LOADED WALK TO EVAN LONGORIA SCORED AKINORI IWAMURA.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, E LONGORIA ON FIRST, C PENA ON SECOND, B
UPTON ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 8
BOSTON 1 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: C CRAWFORD (.438, 3-FOR-3)
Oct 14 9:51 PM -
AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY B.J. UPTON SCORED JASON BARTLETT.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, B UPTON ON FIRST, A IWAMURA ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 7
BOSTON 1 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: C PENA (.333, 1-FOR-3, HR, 2 RBI)
Oct 14 9:44 PM -
AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY WILLY AYBAR SCORED CARL CRAWFORD.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 6
BOSTON 1 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: D NAVARRO (.231, 1-FOR-1, BB)
Oct 14 9:25 PM -
AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY KEVIN CASH (1) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN THE
3RD OFF ANDY SONNANSTINE.
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 5, BOSTON 1
DUE UP FOR BOSTON: J LOWRIE (.000, 0 HR, 1 RBI)
Oct 14 8:54 PM -
Rays 5, Red Sox 0 Top 3
bones
I'd enjoy this much more if the Sox pitchers would stop serving up so many home run balls
Oct 14 8:45 PM -
AL
AT BOSTON - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY WILLY AYBAR (1) TO LEFT WITH 2 OUT IN
THE 3RD OFF TIM WAKEFIELD SCORED CARL CRAWFORD.
CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 5, BOSTON 0
DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: D NAVARRO (.167, 0-FOR-0, BB)
Oct 14 8:44 PM -
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AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
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TAMPA BAY 3 3 3 0
BOSTON 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: TAM - ANDY SONNANSTINE
BOS - TIM WAKEFIELD
DUE UP FOR BOSTON:
Oct 14 8:19 PM -
