SportsDystopia

On Sunday night, the Tampa Bay Rays refused to be haunted by all the daunting history that wanted to rear it’s ugly head in game 7 of the ALCS.  When the likely AL MVP Dustin Pedroia homered in the top of the 1st inning, it looked like the game would be a repeat of the 2004 ALCS, when Johnny Damon homered against the Yankees to lead off game 7.  It also looked like a coming repeat of Saturday night’s game 6, when the Rays played nervous ball after their historic blown lead in game 5.

But Rays starter Matt Garza would not allow another hit until the 7th, and by that time, his teammates had begun to reflect Garza’s confidence, and broken the spell of the Red Sox. By then, Tampa Bay had taken a 2-1 lead, which they would extend to 3-1 in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run by Willy Aybar.  But their bullpen looked vulnerable, until September call-up David Price entered with 2 outs in the 8th. His 4 out save was the exclamation point on fine performance by a young team everyone doubted until the very last out.

The Red Sox finally looked too old, Jason Bay was not ready to fill the empty shoes of Manny Ramirez, and no one was able to match Pedroia’s performance on the night.

The 3-1 victory for Tampa means the World Series will start on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.  Cole Hamels will start for the Phillies, and he has been nearly unhittable this postseason.  The Rays starter is likely to be Scott Kazmir.

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