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Rays look for sweep, first ALCS berth

Oct 5, 2008 - 6:36 AM American League Division Series Rays lead 2-0

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- With one more victory, the Tampa Bay Rays can move onto the next step in their improbable run.

The Rays look to complete a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox in the American League Division Series at U.S. Cellular Field on Sunday, and earn a ticket to the franchise's first appearance in the AL Championship Series.

The Boston Red Sox lead the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 2-0, in the other AL series, and can complete a sweep by winning Game Three, which is slated to start about three hours after the start of this game.

Matt Garza takes the mound for the Rays looking to carry over his impressive regular season into the playoffs. The 24-year-old righthander was acquired from the Minnesota Twins for a package that included outfielder Delmon Young prior to spring training, and went on to go 11-9 with a 3.70 ERA over 30 starts.

Garza threw three complete games this season, including two shutouts.

"I won't take it for granted," Garza said to the St. Petersburg Times. "You know, it's all you can say is it's just going to be an experience. ? This is what you play 162 games for, so why not enjoy it?"

Chicago counters with young pitcher that produced surprising numbers as well. John Danks, who went 12-9 with a 3.32 ERA in 33 starts, is 3-1 with a 2.96 ERA in four career starts against the Rays - including 2-1 with a 1.86 ERA in 2008.

The 23-year-old lefthander hopes to match his brilliance in Tuesday's AL Central tiebreaker in which he held the Twins to two hits in eight scoreless innings.

"I don't know if he will pitch the same way as he pitched against Minnesota, but mentally this kid is pretty tough," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said to the Chicago Tribune. "I don't think he always has blocked everything out, but he's a little bit like Mark Buehrle mentally. He doesn't let anything bother him on the mound. He's a pretty good competitor. He has fire. He wants to do well. But (Tampa Bay's) starters are tough, good pitchers.

"I like Danks' makeup. This kid showed everybody, in the course of a year, every game you pitched it was do-or-die. (Gavin) Floyd and Danks, if we don't win with those two guys I would not be sitting here right now."

Danks will have his hands full, though, dealing with an offense that helped the Rays to 97 wins this season.

While Evan Longoria, who is 4-for-7 with two homers and three RBI in the two games, continues to put the Rays on his back, outfielder Carl Crawford has provided a spark the team had missed for nearly two months to end the regular season.

Crawford, who has been looked upon as the face of the franchise for the better part of this decade, suffered from a sublaxation of the tendon in his right middle finger and went on the disabled list on August 10. He was activated in time for the playoffs and has gone 3-for-8 with two RBI.

"I still think Carl is the face of this franchise," Tampa Bay executive vice president Andrew Friedman said to the St. Petersburg Times. "It's the amount of time he has been here, what he has accomplished on the field, what he brings to this team in every nuance of the game. He is surrounded by a lot of good players now but, to me, he is still the face of the franchise."

The Rays won the season series against the White Sox, going 4-3 at Tropicana Field and 2-1 at U.S. Cellular Field.