st. petersburg, fla. The sudden quiet inside the Tropicana Field dome was shocking.
For nine raucous innings, cowbells clanged, music blared and Tampa Bay fans partied, knowing that a win Saturday in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series would send their Cinderella Rays to the World Series.
There was just one problem. Somebody forgot to inform the remarkable, resilient, suddenly resurgent Boston Red Sox that this series was over. And when the game ended with Jonathan Papelbon coolly closing out a 4-2 Boston victory, the only noise came from the red-clad faithful bunched behind the Boston dugout.
“We’re still here, were still playing baseball and that’s all the matters,” said veteran Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek, who broke out of a slump to slam a sixth-inning solo homer that turned out to be the game-winner.
Now it all comes down to tonight’s Game 7, featuring Boston starter Jon Lester and the Rays’ Matt Garza. The winner hosts Philadelphia in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night.
“It’s all about how we react to the moment and it is the seventh game,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s a great learning experience. For us to win that game would be something special.”
But it’s the Red Sox — on the brink of elimination in Thursday’s Game 5 when they trailed 7-0 entering the seventh inning — who have the momentum. They sit on the doorstep of their third World Series appearance in the last five years.
Boston’s postseason comeback story is one of true grit and clutch performances from creaky heroes.
Starter Josh Beckett, struggling since the end of the season with a painful oblique injury, battled for five innings. Deftly mixing curveballs and changeups with his 92-93 mph fastball, Beckett allowed four hits and walked one. True, two of the hits were solo homers — by B.J. Upton in the first and Jason Bartlett in the fifth — but Beckett gave Boston what it needed.
“I thought he threw with a lot of guts,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “That’s not vintage Josh Beckett, but he also proved who he is.”
So did Varitek and fellow veteran David Ortiz.
The game was knotted 2-2 entering the decisive sixth inning. With two outs, Varitek pulled a home run to right-center off Tampa Bay starter James Shields.
Center fielder Coco Crisp reached first by lining a single off Shield’s leg. Crisp moved to second on a throwing error by Rays shortstop Bartlett and scored on Ortiz’s single to center.
Tampa Bay was 57-24 at “The Trop” during the regular season, including an 8-1 mark against Boston. But that didn’t matter to a Red Sox team that has won nine consecutive postseason games when faced with elimination.
The night began on a high note for Tampa Bay. In the first, Upton sent Beckett’s 3-2, 92-mph fastball into the stratosphere. As Upton’s homer sailed toward left field, it hit the catwalk supporting the dome at Tropicana Field, about 125 feet above the field. Upton’s moonshot was his fourth homer of the ALCS and seventh of the postseason.
“We started out pretty well on B.J.’s homer, but we could not string anything together,” Maddon said. “No question, they outpitched us tonight. Now we have to come back tomorrow and play Game 7.”
Tripped-up circuit breakers
TBS had technical difficulties that prevented it from showing live coverage of the first 20 minutes — and the first home run — of Game 6 on Saturday night. “Two circuit breakers in our Atlanta transmission operations tripped, causing the master router and its backup to shut down,” TBS spokesman Sal Petruzzi said in a statement. “We apologize to baseball fans for this mishap that caused a delay in our coverage.”
Today’s Game 7
6:07 p.m. Red Sox @ Rays, TBS
Red Sox LHP Jon Lester (16-6, 3.21 ERA)
After 14 perfect postseason innings, Lester was hammered for five runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings in Game 3.
Rays RHP Matt Garza (11-9, 3.70)
Outdueled Lester in Game 3, pitching six strong innings, allowing one run on six hits.
2007 The Red Sox trailed Cleveland 3-1 before winning three in a row in the ALCS, then swept Colorado for their second title in four seasons.
2004 Boston became the first major-league team to win a postseason series after trailing 3-0, beating the Yankees for the pennant before sweeping St. Louis in the World Series.
1986 Boston bounced back from a 3-1 ALCS deficit against the Angels, but lost 4-3 to the New York Mets in the World Series.
