What a game last night that started at 8pm in the Trop and lasted into the early morning. It matched up two flamethrowers of the past few years in Josh Beckett and Scott Kazmir, but it was clearly evident both these guys are nowhere near 100%. The Red Sox struck early off of Kazmir getting it done with the two outs theme in effect. The first inning pitch count that Kazmir collected made it clear it would be a long night with the bullpen called in early.
The Rays with their backs against the wall 2-0, came back with a vengeance. It has been a coming out party on the national scene for B.J Upton as a leader and a young star. This game was a slug fest early with the 7 playoff home runs. It had the meltdown of both bullpens in that long fifth inning. But, each team regrouped and went on a shutout of sorts in the late innings.
For the Rays, Dan Wheeler led the way pitching the most consecutive innings since his days in Houston. The Price was right as David Price quickly made a name for himself with his mastery of Boston batters. The Rays got the lead off batter Dioner Navarro on base and promptly replaced him with speedy outfielder Perez. It was the farm system delivering this win as Perez was drove in from third on a short fly ball by Upton.
The Rays have gotten themslves back in the series and have the momemntum as they head back to Boston. Let us not forget Evan Longaria who is a rookie cleanup hitter who had his bat going again. But in all, this was a complete team win and the game came down to the 24th and 25th roster spots.
Filed under: American League, MLB, Rays, RedSox
