Oct 14, 2008 - 11:16 PM
0 shoutsBy PA SportsTicker
TAMPA BAY 13, BOSTON 4 ----------------------
BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Rays have spent the past two nights taking batting practice off Boston Red Sox pitching, and the offensive onslaught has them one step away from the World Series.
Evan Longoria homered and Willy Aybar drove in five runs as the Rays dominated the Red Sox, 13-4, in Game Four of the American League Championship Series.
Carl Crawford went 5-for-5 and Carlos Pena homered for Tampa Bay, which holds a three-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven series and can clinch a trip to the World Series behind James Shields on Thursday.
The Rays stunned Boston in Game Three on Monday, belting four homers in a 9-1 victory, and carried their homer barrage over to the first inning of Game Four, when Pena followed a one-out walk to B.J. Upton with a towering blast into the "Green Monster" seats.
Longoria followed with a solo shot to give Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead. The blast gave Longoria five in the postseason, breaking the rookie record set by Miguel Cabrera with the 2003 Florida Marlins.
Tim Wakefield retired the side in order in the second and set down the first two batters in the third before Crawford slapped a weak grounder to the right side of the infield. Wakefield got to the dribbler but could not get it out of his glove quickly, allowing the speedy Crawford to reach.
Aybar followed and worked the count to 2-1 before driving a high knuckleball into the seats above the "Monster" for a 5-0 advantage.
Wakefield (0-1) was removed after 2 2/3 innings, having allowed five runs and six hits while walking two and striking out a pair. It was the shortest outing for a Boston starter in the playoffs since Bronson Arroyo lasted two innings in Game Three of the 2004 ALCS against the New York Yankees.
The five-run lead was plenty for Rays righthander Andy Sonnanstine (1-0), who allowed four runs - two earned - and six hits in 7 1/3 innings while walking one and striking out two.
Tampa Bay's No. 4 starter, Sonnanstine easily handled Boston in a pair of September starts, tossing 13 innings without allowing an earned run. The 25-year-old carried that success into October, setting down 12 in a row before David Ortiz led off the seventh with a triple.
The Rays piled on against the Red Sox's bullpen, adding a run against righthander Justin Masterson in the fifth and five against Manny Delcarmen in the sixth.
Lauded mostly for its pitching and defense before the postseason, Tampa Bay has pounded out 31 runs in the past three games with the aid of 10 homers.
Boston showed some signs of life in the eighth, when Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis each plated a run, but it was too little, too late.
An ALCS deficit is nothing new to the Red Sox, who were down three games to one to the Cleveland Indians en route to winning the World Series in 2007 and overcame a three-games-to-none hole against the Yankees in 2004.
