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Drew plays hero as Red Sox stay alive in ALCS

Oct 17, 2008 - 5:56 AM By Tom Covill PA SportsTicker Assistant Baseball Editor

BOSTON (Ticker) -- With their backs against the wall, the Boston Red Sox decided to make some history.

J.D. Drew hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and drove in the winning run with a single in the ninth to lift the Red Sox to an 8-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday in Game Five of the American League Championship Series.

David Ortiz snapped a 61 at-bat postseason homerless drought with a three-run blast in the seventh for Boston, which trailed, 7-0, before becoming the first team in LCS history to overcome a deficit of more than five runs.

"I can't say the game was exciting because the first six innings, we did nothing," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "They had their way with us in every way possible. And then this place came unglued, and we've seen that before. But because of the situation we're in, it just - it was pretty magical."

The Red Sox, who made history when they became the first team to overcome a three-games-to-none deficit to win the ALCS against the New York Yankees in 2004, are trying to come back from being down three games to one for the second consecutive postseason. They accomplished the feat against the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS last year.

The best-of-seven series shifts back to Tropicana Field for Game Six on Saturday. Tampa Bay still leads, three games to two.

"I've never seen a group so happy to get on a plane at 1:30 in the morning in my life," Francona said.

"We have the kind of guys that we're gonna fight back, no matter what the situation," Ortiz said. "We just say we've been here before and it's never over until it's over. We're gonna go back to Tampa and try and fight back."

After being outscored, 29-5, over the first 24 innings of the series at Fenway Park, Boston finally woke up against Tampa Bay's bullpen.

Jed Lowrie sparked the rally with a leadoff double off Grant Balfour in the seventh. The Rays' righthander looked to be on his way to stranding the runner when he retired the next two batters on flyouts to center field, but Coco Crisp kept alive the inning with a single to left.

Dustin Pedroia battled Balfour in an eight-pitch at-bat, which culminated with an RBI single to right. Ortiz followed and drove a 1-0 pitch deep into the right field stands for a three-run blast, bringing the Red Sox within 7-4.

"We were in a position where we needed some runs in a big way, and (Ortiz) was able to get a huge home run and give us some run support there," Drew said.

After Jonathan Papelbon shut down the side in order in the top of the eighth, Boston's bats went back to work in the bottom of the frame against Dan Wheeler.

Jason Bay walked on four pitches, bringing Drew to the plate. The lefthanded slugger took a strike before launching a fastball into the right field seats.

"They got a great lineup over there, you can't sleep on them," Wheeler said. "We weren't able to make pitches tonight. If I had to do it over again, I'd do it the same way."

Fenway Park literally began to shake after Drew's homer, as the fans woke up from a slumber that began during Game Three.

Wheeler retired the next two hitters before Mark Kotsay sent a drive to deep left-center field, just over the outstretched glove of B.J. Upton. Crisp then plated the tying run, fouling off five pitches in a 10-pitch at-bat before slapping a single into right field to score Kotsay.

"Coco's at-bat was probably the best at-bat he's had as a Red Sock, again, because of the situation," Francona said.

Lefthander J.P. Howell came on in the ninth and retired the first two batters before Kevin Youkilis sent a squibber down the third base line. Evan Longoria got to the ball, but his throw to first was wild and bounced into the stands, allowing Youkilis to advance to second.

The Rays chose to walk Bay intentionally, bringing up Drew.

Howell (0-1) was struggling with his command throughout the at-bat and missed out over the plate, allowing Drew to drive it over Gabe Gross' head in right field for the game-winning hit.

"I knew I hit it really well," Drew said. "I got a ball in the middle of the plate, just tried to square it up... Just trying to get a ball to hit in a hole somewhere. And I hit it really well. I thought well enough to get it over his head, but it's so deep in right field here, I didn't know if he would catch it or not."

Justin Masterson (1-0) picked up the win after tossing a scoreless top of the ninth.

The comeback was in striking contrast to how the series had gone at Fenway Park over the previous 2 1/2 games, with the Rays making the seats above the "Green Monster" their own personal home run nesting ground.

After clubbing seven homers in the previous two games, Tampa Bay got right back to work Thursday when Upton drove a shot into the "Monster" seats in the first for a two-run blast. Carlos Pena and Longoria hit back-to-back homers off Daisuke Matsuzaka in the third to put the Rays up, 5-0.

"I allowed a few home runs today, and I've said throughout the season that home runs are preventable, so I'm very disappointed that I made those mistakes today," Matsuzaka said through an interpreter. "I just have to say a word of thanks to the relievers that pitched behind me and the guys on the field."

Hideki Okajima tossed two scoreless innings before Manny Delcarmen allowed two more runs. But Papelbon came on in the seventh to shut the door for two innings, allowing the offense more time.

Scott Kazmir was sharp in his start for Tampa Bay, allowing two hits and striking out seven in six scoreless frames.

"Kaz was very good tonight," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "You feel pretty good about a seven-run lead at that part of the game with (Balfour and Wheeler) coming into it. It just didn't want to happen.

"Again, it's one game, it's a loss. Obviously, we're in a pretty good position to move on. Earlier in the game, we gave it up. But if you dwell on something like that and you permit your mind to dwell in that negative mode, then nothing good can happen after that."