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Rays look to continue power surge in Game Four

Oct 14, 2008 - 1:15 PM American 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."