Longoria and Soto Capture Rookie Honors

Evan Longoria, who helped the Rays to their first playoff appearance and catcher Geovanny Soto of the NL Central champion Cubs have been named the 2008 AL and NL Rookies of the Year.

Longoria was the guy that came with all the hype this year and our pre-season prediction. Alexei Ramirez was an unknown, a Cuban defector not expected to make an impact. Joba Chamberlain, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Clay Buchholz were all hyped up by the media based on the prior year's impact.

Of the rookies not named Longoria, Ramirez made the biggest splash, helping drive the White Sox to the AL West division crown. The 27-yr old finished at .277-21-90 and hit .333 from June 1st thru August 31st. Ramirez was clutch, hitting .398 with runners in scoring position and was versatile in the field, playing 121 games at second base, 16 games at shortstop, 11 games in center field, and 1 at third base.

Joba Chamberlain enjoyed a good season between the bullpen and starting rotation, though he didn't blow everyone away as a starter. Jacoby Ellsbury had a good season as well, stealing 50 bases, but he went through a prolonged slump before finishing at .280. Buchholz was a major disappointment. After throwing a no-hitter last September, Buchholz was hammered over 15 starts to the tune of a 6.75 ERA and some trips to the minor leagues where he finished the season.

But it was the superstar in the making, Longoria, who captured the baseball nation's attention. He hit .272-27-85 in 122 games and made the All-Star team in July. Longoria added 31 doubles, 2 triples, 7 stolen bases, and an .874 OPS. His glove work at third base was also solid.

2008 AL Rookie of the Year Voting
Player, Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Evan Longoria, TB	28			140
Alexei Ramirez, CWS		18	5	59
Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS		7	5	26
Mike Aviles, KC		2	3	9
Armando Galarraga, DET			9	9
Joey Devine, OAK		1		3
Denard Span, MIN			3	3
Nick Blackburn, MIN			1	1
Joba Chamberlain, NYY			1	1
Brad Ziegler, OAK			1	1

The Cincinnati Reds' young stud outfielder Jay Bruce and the Cubs Japanese import, and our pre-season prediction, Kusoke Fukodome, both came with even more hype than Soto, and Bruce's Cincy teammates Johnny Cuerto and Homer Bailey were also highly thought of (as it turned out another Red, Joey Votto, had a better year than all of them).

But Soto's impressive rookie season was made even more impressive by the position he plays. In addition to taking his daily swings, he had to call and manage the team's pitchers, including the always volatile Carlos Zambrano. The Cubs starters had a good season and that reflected well on Soto's defensive game.

The 25-yr old hit .285-23-86 in over 500 plate appearances. He added 35 doubles, 2 triples, and an .872 OPS. (His numbers were remarkably similiar to Longoria's). Behind the plate Soto threw out 26.5% of all base stealers and put up a .995 defensive mark.

2008 NL Rookie of the Year Voting
Player, Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Geovany Soto, CHC	31	1		158
Joey Votto, CIN	1	21	8	76
Jair Jurrjens, ATL		6	16	34
Edinson Volquez, CIN*		3		9
Jay Bruce, CIN			7	7
Kosuke Fukudome, CHC		1	1	4

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It Shall Rain for 40 Hours and 40 Minutes

And then the voice said, "Take 2 each: outfielders, pitchers, catchers, and infielders, unto the ark."

Okay, really the umpires just said to put the tarp on the field last night, suspending game 5 of the World Series. The series isn't still on because the Rays forced a game 6, but instead because a deluge of precipitation fell on Citizen's Bank Park causing so much water pooling that Greg Louganis could have landed in one puddle off the high dive.

Play stopped in the middle of the sixth inning after the Rays had tied the game 2-2 on Carlos Pena's RBI single. It was clear that MLB was praying for the Rays to either tie the game or go ahead so that a possibly decisive game wouldn't be decided in part due to the weather. But it was clear, despite the protestations of MLB COO Bob Dupuy to Fox's Chris Myers, that the game would have continued had the Rays not tied the score.

The game likely won't be completed until Wednesday night, because tonight's forecast in Philly is calling for even worse weather than last night. The game could have been called prior to the fifth inning, but MLB was going to do everything they could to get the game in and they didn't want to get negative feedback from Phillies fans for calling the game with the Phils leading. Obviously no consideration was given to the health and well being of highly paid athletes who aren't used to playing baseball in a mud pit filled with water hazards. On top of everything else we had to listen to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver use the word "hydroplane" countless times.

The stoppage has to favor the Rays since it means there's no way that Cole Hamels will continue in the contest. Though he wasn't as dominant as he had been in his prior post-season starts, he had still limited the Rays to just 5 hits over 6 innings and those 2 runs. On the other hand, Rays starter Scott Kazmir was awful, the weather notwithstanding. He lasted only four innings, walking 6 hitters and only gave up 2 runs due to the Phillies' continuing inefficiency with runners in scoring position.

There was good news in the game for the Rays as Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria finally broke out of their O-fers. Pena had a pair of hits, scored the Rays' first run and drove in the second. Longoria's fourth inning single broke his shneid and brought home Pena.

The Phillies took advantage of Kazmir's control problems to take a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning. Kazmir put two men on with one out by walking Jayson Werth and plunking Chase Utley. But after blowing a 94-mph strike three fastball past Ryan Howard, Kazmir walked Pat Burrell to load the bases, and then gave up a 2-run single to Shane Victorino. Pedro Feliz' single loaded the bases again, but Kazmir escaped further trouble by retiring Carlos Ruiz on an inning ending fly out.

Pena's one-out-double in the fourth brought some life to the Rays bench and Longoria capitalized with with his first hit and RBI of the series with a single to left. Hamels came right back though, getting Dioner Navarro to bounce into a double play.

Kazmir was in trouble again in the home half of the fourth, issuing back-to-back 2-out walks to Jimmy Rollins and Werth to load the bases. But Utley grounded out to second baseman Aki Iwamura to strand all three runners.

Rollin's error on a wind-blown pop-up in the fifth gave the Rays a lead off man on base, but Hamels, with a big assist from Utley, got Jason Bartlett to hit into a double play. Utley tagged runner Rocco Baldelli as he went by and then spun around to throw out Bartlett at first.

Joe Maddon finally went to his pen in the fifth when Kazmir walked Howard and Pat Burrell to start the inning. Grant Balfour did the job, retiring all three men he faced to strand the runners. Then it was the Rays' turn to come back and in the process halt play. B.J. Upton reached on a 2-out infield single, and despite the sloppy turf, stole second base. It paid off when Pena singled to left and Upton just beat the throw home from Burrell to tie the score. Pena moved to second base on a passed ball, but Longoria flied to deep center to end the inning and the night's play.

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Line Drive in the Paper Lifts Phils

It wasn't pretty, but the Phillies will take it. Tied 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies didn't hit one ball out of the infield - actually they only put one ball into play - in scoring the winning run to take a 2 games to 1 advantage in the World Series. Last night's game ended about 1:47 a.m. EDT after a one hour-thirty one minute rain delay caused the first pitch to be thrown at 10:14 p.m., the latest start in World Series history.

The Rays had rallied from a 4-1 deficit, tying the game with a run in the eighth inning. But Rays reliver J.P. Howell hit Eric Bruntlett to start the home half of the ninth inning. Grant Balfour replaced Howell, and with Shane Victorino batting, immediately threw a wild pitch. Catcher Dioner Navarro quickly retrieved the ball and fired to second to try to gun down Bruntlett, but his throw sailed wide to the right side of second base and into center field, allowing Bruntlett to reach third base. Victorino was intentionally walked and Joe Maddon came out to discuss strategy with his pitcher and infielders.

Those infielders were increased by one when right fielder Ben Zobrist, a natural infielder, moved behind second base to give the Rays a 5-man infield. An intentional walk to Gary Dobbs loaded the bases for catcher Carlos Ruiz. With the infield and outfield playing in, Ruiz chopped a high Balfour fastball that a charging Evan Longoria could only whip home with an underhand, off-balance throw. The ball sailed high and wide and the Phillies had themselves a victory.

Though the game came down to the bottom of the ninth Jamie Moyer was the story of this game. The 45-yr old had struggled in his first two post-season starts, allowing 8 runs in 5.1 innings pitched. But his manager Charlie Manuel stuck by him, saying in his Friday news conference that Moyer had earned his World Series start. Now he's earned a second one, which would be a deciding seventh game if necessary.

Moyer pitch into the seventh inning, leaving with a 4-2 lead and one out. A third run was charged to him after an inherited runners scored on a ground out, but this was clearly Moyer's night. He kept the Rays off balance with his mixture of slow, slower, and slowest pitches. He quickly gave up a 1-0 lead in the second inning and Phillies fans had to be concerned. But after Ruiz's solo home run off Matt Garza in the bottom of the second gave the Phillies the lead back, Moyer took control. He allowed just two more hits through the sixth inning.

Moyer's counterpart, Garza, had been dominant in the first two rounds of the post-season, but struggled last night. Maddon had to come out in the first inning to settle him down after allowing a lead off single to Jimmy Rollins, a walk to Jayson Werth, and a wild pitch that moved both runners into scoring position. He allowed just one run, but was tagged for three solo home runs on the night.

Meanwhile the Phillies extended their lead when their two big men, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit back to back home runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 4-1 lead. The Rays big men continued not to deliver. Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria, who has to endure the asinine chant of "Eva" from the Phillies faithful, both went hitless last night and are hitless for the series. Their teammates did pick them up last night though.

Carl Crawford began the seventh with a bunt single and Navarro followed with a double to left to bring the tying run to the plate. The Rays seem to be specializing on RBI ground outs in the series and that trend continued when Gabe Gross' bouncer to Howard to cut the lead to 4-2 and moved Navarro to third. Chad Durbin replaced Moyer and got Jason Bartlett to bounce into another run scoring ground out that made it a 4-3 game, but prevented a bigger inning.

In the eighth, with Ryan Madson on the mound, B.J. Upton stroked a lead off single and stole second base with one away. The Rays aggressive play on the basepaths paid off when Upton stole third and scored on Ruiz's throwing error. But Ruiz would have the last laugh.


News and Notes

Pena and Longoria are now a combined 0-22 in the series.

Ruiz's game winner made the Phillies 2-33 with runners in scoring position.

Steve Carlton threw out the first pitch, which was made ironic since Moyer beat him for his major league win in 1986.

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The Better Late Than Never World Series Preview

With the start of Game 1 of the 2008 World Series less than an hour away, though the actual start will depend on how long FOX can drag things out, here is our much anticipated World Series preview.

Joe Maddon and Charlie Manuel are both managing their first World Series, and of course this is the first for the Tampa Bay Rays. But the Philadelphia Phillies don't have much more experience. They've only been to the series five times previously, and have just one title, won in 1980.

Lets take a look at the position by position match ups to see who has the edge.

First Base

Ryan Howard vs. Carlos Pena

There is no question that Howard is the superior hitter, putting monstrous numbers up year after year in his young career (Averaging 51 home runs and 143 RBI over the last three seasons). Pena had a huge contract year (.282-46-121, all career highs) last season and struggled early on with injuries. But he still led the team with 30 home runs and 103 RBI in '08. Howard's a liability defensively, so Manuel could DH him on the road.

Pena is clearly the better defender, an underrated gold glove caliber first baseman. But the edge has to go to Howard for his ability to be a game changer. He has not hit for power in the post-season and the Rays better hope that trend continues.
ADVANTAGE - Howard, PHI

Second Base

Chase Utley vs. Aki Iwamura

You know how good Chase Utley is. He's the guy you wish Robinson Cano was like. Utley has been a model of consistency at the plate, averaging 28 home runs and 103 RBI over the last four seasons. Like Howard, he's looking to bust out after hitting just .250 with one home run so far in the post-season.

Iwamura is an outstanding defender. He made a smooth transition from third base to second base this season. The Rays lead off man may have a swing similar to his fellow countryman, Ichiro Suzuki, but that's where the similarity ends. Iwamura led the Rays in average with just a .274 mark. He did hit .295 at home, but the advantage here easily goes to the Rays.
ADVANTAGE - Utley, PHI


SHORTSTOP

Jimmy Rollins vs. Jason Bartlett

Rollins is the heart and soul of this team and its vocal leader. He won the NL MVP last year after boasting the Phillies would win the NL East and then backed it up with his play. Injuries caused him to miss 25 games and his production was down considerably from his 2007 career best numbers. He did still manage to swipe a career high 47 bases and committed just 7 errors.

Jason Bartlett was acquired, along with Matt Garza, from the Twins during the off-season for Delmon Young. Bartlett provides speed (20 stolen bases during the regular season), but doesn't have much pop in his bat. He hit just one home run in 454 at-bats this season. However, Bartlett crushed right handed pitching to the tune of a .379 mark. Bartlett is a decent defender (16 errors, .970 FPCT in '08) who made a costly error in game 6 of the ALCS and nearly had another in game 7. The Phillies get another one.
ADVANTAGE - Rollins, PHI


Third Base

Pedro Feliz vs. Evan Longoria

Feliz won't hit much for average (.252 lifetime), but he does have an underrated power stick. He averaged 21 home runs over the prior four seasons and then hit 14 in 133 games in his first year in Philadelphia. Feliz is also a pretty good defender, having made only 19 errors over the last two seasons.

What can you say about the AL's rookie of the year (in our opinion) that hasn't been said already. The numbers don't lie. Longoria started the season in the minors then missed a load of games down the stretch with a broken arm. He still managed 27 home runs and 85 RBI in 122 games, with 31 doubles and an .874 OPS. He made 12 errors this season while compiling a .963 fielding pct., but he's got the goods to be a solid hot corner man. Any guess who gets the edge here?
ADVANTAGE - Longoria, TB


Left Field

Pat Burrell vs. Carl Crawford

Wow, this is a good one. You've got one of the better power guys in the game against one of the best all around players and athletes in the game. Burrell heard trade rumors during the season, but it didn't seem to effect him. He hit slightly below his career average, .250., but the rest of his numbers were comparable to his prior years - 33 home runs, 86 RBI, and 102 walks. Burrell has been big thus far in the post-season, hitting .300 with 3 home runs and 7 RBI.

Like Longoria, Crawford missed a big chunk of time due to injury, playing in 109 games, the least since his rookie season in 2002. Everyone talks about Crawford's speed, but he's also got power and has a .293 career average. He matched his career high for errors this season with....just 4! You won't see too many balls fall between him and B.J. Upton in center field. Crawford's all around play gets the edge here.
ADVANTAGE - Crawford, TB


Center Field

Shane Victorino vs. B.J. Upton

Another good match up of a pair of spark plugs. Victorino's emergence allowed the Phillies to let Aaron Rowand wander off to the bay area. The Hawaiian native set career marks with a .293 (team high) average, 14 home runs, 58 RBI, 102 runs scored, 167 hits, and had one less steal (36) than 2009. He's also done a very good job replacing the gold gloved Rowand in the outfield.

Upton emerged last season as the player the Rays organization was counting on. Though in comparison to last season (.300-24-82, 22 SB), his '08 numbers (.273-9-67, 44 SB) don't look very good, and he had some discipline problems, the 24-yr old can still be counted on. He's been on fire in the playoffs, hitting .304 with 7 home runs, 15 RBI, and a whopping 1.191 OPS. Though he's still learning the position, Upton put together a .983 FPCT. These two mean so much to their teams, that we really can't separate them.
ADVANTAGE - DRAW


Right Field

Jayson Werth vs. Gabe Gross/Rocco Baldelli

The 29-yr old Werth had a break out season with 24 home runs and 67 RBI, and made only 2 errors in playing all three outfield positions, primarily right field. Though he has hit in 7 of 9 playoff games, he's just .243 with 1 home run and that one lone RBI.

Rocco Baldelli came back from the brink of going nowhere to playing a significant role down the stretch for Tampa. Fighting off a mitochondrial disease that zaps his strength, Baldelli hit .263-4-13 with 12 run scored in 28 games. He has struggled (3 for 14) in the post-season, and played in just two games in the ALCS, but did have a big 3-run home run in game 5.

Gross came over from Milwaukee in an in-season deal, and hit .242-13-38 in 127 games. He's a decent right fielder, though nothing that legends are made of. As of this writing, there was talk Eric Hinske could replace him on the roster.
ADVANTAGE - Werth, PHI


Catcher

Carlos Ruiz vs. Dioner Navarro

Ruiz was impress at all with his bat, .219-4-31, but he calls a good game and plays a strong all-around defensive game. The Phillies will benefit from road games when they won't have both Ruiz and the pitcher batting in the bottom of the order.

Navarro has emerged as the type of catcher the Yankees were hoping they would see, except not with another team. A first time All-Star, Navarro, still just 24-yrs of age, hit .295-7-43 in 120 games. He also become one of the best defensive catchers in baseball and clearly gets the edge in this head to head match up.
ADVANTAGE - Navarro, TB


Starting Pitching

Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, Joe Blanton
vs.
Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine

Hamels is clearly the best of the lot and could be a series changer, especially if he were to go three times. He could even have an impact out of the pen like Randy Johnson had for Arizona. Though Hamels is the best of this lot, the Rays staff is deeper. Garza is the hottest pitcher on the staff right now, Kazmir is still a borderline stud, and Shields emerging as a top notch young pitcher. Sonnanstine is nothing to sneeze at either even if his name is hard to pronounce.
ADVANTAGE - TB

Probable Pitchers

Game 1 - Hamels vs. Kazmir
Game 2 - Myers vs. Shields
Game 3 - Garza vs. Moyer
Game 4 - Sonnanstine vs. Blanton
Game 5 - Kazmir vs. Hamels
Game 6 - Myers vs. Shields
Game 7 - Moyer vs. Garza

Bullpens

The pen, always a horror for Tampa in the past, was a strength this season. But injuries to closer Troy Percival has put more pressure on a team that now has no true closer. Joe Maddon mixed and matched to perfection in game 7 of the ALCS, but will it always work out so well?

Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson have formed a formidable 1-2 punch out of the Phillies pen, though we still don't trust Lidge (46-46 in save situations during the regular season). Though we don't trust him, we still will give Philly a slight edge in their ability to close out a game.
ADVANTAGE - PHI


And the winner is........in 6 games, the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays starting pitching is the difference maker here, especially if it were to come down to a game 7. Matt Garza is on fire right now and Jamie Moyer is looking like he's 85 not 45. It should be an entertaining series, but the Rays will take it. Who the "Devil" would have thought it? ;)

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A Ray of Sunshine

If you didn't get to see last night's game 7 of the ALCS, you missed out on a tense, well played nail-biter. The Rays emerged with a 3-1 victory to gain their first shot at a World Series title and in the process prevented the Red Sox from a possible World Series repeat.

Some big game performers emerged last night, both in victory and defeat. Matt Garza garnered the ALCS MVP after he won his second game of the series to go along with a 1.38 ERA. He allowed a first inning home run to Dustin Pedroia, but only allowed one more hit through 7 innings plus a batter in the eighth.

Then Joe Maddon mixed and matched his way through the final two innings. Jason Bartlett, who made a crucial error in game 6, committed another misplay on Alex Cora's grounder to start the eighth. Joe Maddon sent for Dan Wheeler, who gave up a single to Coco Crisp before getting Pedroia to pop out to left for the inning's first out. J.P. Howell came on to get David Ortiz to bounce into a force out for the second out, but Chad Bradford issued a walk to Kevin Youkilis to load the bases. Maddon then went to his stud rookie prospect, David Price, to go up against left-hander J.D. Drew. After mixing off-speed pitches with 96-mph fastballs, Price got Drew on a check swing strike three for the final out of the inning.

Price walked Jason Bay to start the ninth, but struck out Mark Kotsay and Jason Varitek, and induced a game ending ground out from Jed Lowrie. Second baseman Aki Iwamura snared the grounder and took it to the bag himself to send the Rays into celebration.

Lost in the game was another outstanding performance by Jon Lester, who was arguably the Red Sox best starter this season. He scattered six hits over seven powerful innings. But with Carlos Pena on first and two out in the third, he hung a pitch to Evan Longoria who smacked into the right field corner. It bounced around enough to get Pena home just ahead of the relay from J.D. Drew to tie the game at one apiece.

Willy Aybar led off the fifth inning with a double and Dionner Navarro reached on an infield single in the hole at shortstop. A field good story was then in the making when Rocco Baldelli singled in what proved to be the game winner. Lester beautifully worked out of a possible bigger inning to keep it a one run game.

Aybar struck again with a huge home run in the seventh that provided a much needed insurance run. Then it was all down to the bullpen, and unlike game 6, they were up to the task.

* * * * *

Don Zimmer threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.

There were 40,000 plus fans last night. We wonder where they were all year.

Now we can relax while watching the WS. Don't really care who wins, though we will probably root for the Rays.

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Rays Sting Red Sox to the Brink

Joe Maddon knows the history. He has seen what the Red Sox have done in the past. A comeback from a 3-0 deficit to the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS that led to a World Series championship. A comeback from a 3-1 deficit to the Indians in last year's ALCS that led to another title. After last night's Rays 13-4 blow out of the Red Sox, Maddon's Tampa squad is in the same position. An American League pennant is in their grasp. Now they have to finish it off.

Carl Crawford (5) and Willy Aybar (4) combined to out hit the Red Sox (7) last night as Tim Wakefield knuckled under. For the second straight game the Rays scored early and often, and didn't let up. Wakefield didn't make it out of the third inning and was charged with five earned runs. Manny DelCarmen gave up the same amount in just a third of an inning. Meanwhile, Andy Sonnanstine gave the bullpen a rest with a solid 7.1 innings pitched.

Carlos Pena ignited the Rays attack with a 2-run home run in the first and Evan Longoria added a solo shot. Aybar, who drove in 5 runs, also homered.

Box Score

But beware Rays. The Yankees won game 3 of the 2004 ALCS, 19-8. Getting that last victory is not a given.

James Shields was originally slated to start game 5, but Joe Maddon has switched to Scott Kazmir instead. Kazmir was hammered in game 2, and all season, by the Sox, but we understand the thinking here. If Kazmir loses, Maddon will still have Shields, who pitched very well in losing game 1, to try to close things out at home in game 6.

The Red Sox will be without third baseman Mike Lowell for the rest of the season. Last year's WS MVP has opted for season ending hip surgery on Monday.

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Rays Sacrifice to Stay Alive

It's difficult to say a team has their backs to the wall after the first game of a seven game playoff series, but that was really the case for the Tampa Rays last evening. Going back to Boston down two games to none, would have created a nearly impossible feat even for an experienced playoff team. But the Rays won't have to worry about that situation. Last night they pulled out a see-saw battle with the Red Sox on B.J. Upton's sacrifice fly in the 11th inning.

If Terry Francona has made a mistake in this playoff, it's keeping Mike Timlin on the post-season roster. While the thinking was probably not use Timlin in a big situation, Francona had no choice last night after having used five relievers, including his closer Jon Papelbon for 1.1 innings.

Timlin walked Dioner Navarro and light hitting Ben Zobrist to start the inning. Jason Bartlett's sacrifice bunt moved the runners up a base, forcing the Red Sox to intentionally walk Aki Iwamura to load the bases. That brought up B.J. Upton, who hit a fly to shallow right. The Rays gambled that J.D. Drew, running hard on the play, would not be able to set himself for an accurate throw home. The gamble paid off when speedy pinch-runner Fernando Perez slid home with the winning run ahead of an off the target throw by Drew.

The Rays would not have been in position to win if not for the relief work of veteran Dan Wheeler and rookie David Price. Wheeler had to bounce back after his wild pitch allowed the Red Sox to tie the game in the eighth inning. But he tossed a scoreless ninth and tenth before leaving with one man out in the 11th and runner on a first. Price, the number one overall pick in the 2007 amateur draft, walked Drew, but struck out Mark Kotsay looking and got Coco Crisp to bounce into an inning ending ground out.

Neither starter pitched well, with Boston's Josh Beckett fighting a strained oblique and Tampa's Scott Kazmir continuing his '08 struggles against the Red Sox. Boston struck first against Kazmir, who was 0-2, 9.00 in four starts against the Sox this season. Kazmir's control problems came up to bite him in the first inning when he issued a two out walk to David Ortiz. Kevin Youkilis followed with a single and Jason Bay brought them both home with a double. Kazmir walked Jed Lowrie, but struck out Jason Varitek to escape further trouble.

The Rays came right back though when Evan Longoria smacked a 2-run home run, his third of the post-season, in the bottom half of the first. The tie only lasted until the third when Dustin Pedroia smashed a solo home run to left. That lead would last an even shorter amount of time when Upton crushed a 424-ft solo shot in the bottom of the third. Longoria stroked a one out double and came home on Carl Crawford's single for a 4-3 Rays lead.

Tampa extended their advantage to 5-3 when Cliff Floyd led off with a solo home run to straight away center field. But Kazmir wouldn't stick around to try to get the win. Pedroia's second solo shot of the game and Youkilis' own solo blast one batter later knocked Kazmir from the box and tied the game at 5-5. Bay greeted Grant Balfour with another solo home run to put the Red Sox ahead 6-5. Balfour then walked Lowrie and Varitek before J.P. Howell came on to work out of the jam.

Upton led off the fifth with a walk and promptly stole second base. Carlos Pena singled off of Beckett to tie the game and came home on Longoria's second double, and third extra base hit, of the ball game. Fracona finally yanked Beckett from the game, but Crawford laced reliever Javier Lopez's delivery to right for an RBI single and an 8-6 Rays lead. Manny DelCarmen was next out of the Boston pen and he finally quelled the fire.

Pedroia drew a one out walk in the sixth, but Howell struck out Ortiz looking. Joe Maddon went to the pen again for right-hander Chad Bradford, but Bradford gave up back to back singles to Youkilis and Bay to cut the Rays lead to 8-7.

After a scoreless seventh, only the second scoreless inning of the game, Pedroia singled off of Bradford to start the eighth. Maddon sent for lefty Trevor Miller to face Ortiz, but Big Papi drew a walk as well. Wheeler came on and got a big double play grounder from Youkilis, but then threw a fastball a mile over Navarro's head to allow Pedroia to score the tying run.

Box Score

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Dice Rolls Lucky 7

Daisuke Matsuzaka threw a masterful seven innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 2-0 win over the Tampa Rays in game one of the ALCS.

Matsuzaka tossed six innings of no-hit ball before Carl Crawford led off the seventh inning with a single to right field. Trailing 1-0, Cliff Floyd followed with a single to center to put runners on the corners with no one out. But Matsuzaka retired Dioner Navarro on a fly to shallow left, struck out Gabe Gross, and hen got Jason Bartlett to bounce out to escape the jam.

Terry Francona went to the pen with a 2-0 lead in the eighth after Matsuzaka gave up back to back singles, sandwiched around a wild pitch, to Aki Iwamura and B.J. Upton to once again put runners on the corners with no one out. Lefty specialist Hideki Okajima got Carlos Pena to fly out to shallow right on a 3-0 pitch, and Justin Masterson came on to induce an inning ending double play ball from Evan Longoria.

The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead against Rays starter James Shields in the fifth inning when Jason Bay drew a lead off walk and moved to third base on Mark Kotsay's double. Jed Lowrie's sac fly brought home Bay to break the scoreless tie.

The Sox then added a big insurance run in the seventh inning. Dustin Pedroia reached on a one out single off of J.P. Howell and stole second base. David Ortiz followed with a walk, and Kevin Youkilis ripped a low liner to left that glanced off the glove of a sliding Crawford, allowing Pedroia to score. Joe Maddon sent for Grant Balfour, who immediately hit J.D. Drew to load the bases. But Balfour got out of further trouble by striking out Bay and retiring Kotsay on a fly out.

Jon Papelbon came on in the ninth inning for the Red Sox, retiring the side in order to pick up the save.

Box Score

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The Pennant Race - 10/10

ALCS Preview

The Rays and Red Sox are just about set to begin game one of their best of seven ALCS series. The Rays are trying to keep their amazing ride going after making the post-season for the first time in their history. The Red Sox are looking to build a mini-dynasty, which arguably could happen should they win a third World Series title in five years.

The Rays played hard-nosed baseball right from the start of the season (see Francisco Cervelli). They've got a manager in Joe Maddon who does a good job of balancing a team of younger players, sprinkled with a handful of key veterans. He hasn't been afraid to show who's boss, benching star player B.J. Upton during the stretch drive due to a lack of hustle.

His counterpart on the Red Sox, Terry Francona, has come a long way in his five years in Boston. He was ostensibly hired to mollify Curt Schilling. Francona was shredded by fans and the media part way through his first season in 2004, but soon he was at the helm of the greatest comeback in playoff history and was lauded as the man who had broken the "Curse of the Bambino". He's now attained hero worship status not only because of winning a title last year, but also the way he conducts his business.

The Red Sox have physically had a rough year. Injuries to Schilling, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, J.D. Drew, Julio Lugo had a major impact on the team. There was the whole Manny Ramirez mess, a disappointing year by Clay Buchholz, and like many teams, difficulty in building a steady bullpen.

But outstanding years by Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester, and the steady performance of Josh Beckett led the rotation. Jason Bay stepped in big time for Ramirez, and Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis had outstanding seasons. Bottom line: Boston is still a very dangerous team.

The Rays have a balanced line up, mixing speed and power. They have a shooting superstar in rookie Evan Longoria and a solid veteran core in Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, and Cliff Floyd. But the key to the Rays' amazing turnaround has been their pitching staff. A starting rotation of Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine, and Edwin Jackson combined to go 64-45.

The big blow to this team is the loss of Troy Percival, who recorded 28 saves before myriad leg problems caused him to miss time, including the ALCS. The removal of Percival has made the pen weaker, because there's one less setup man to build the bridge to the ninth. Dan Wheeler has stepped up with 13 saves, but he doesn't exactly give you a great feeling of confidence. Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell, and Chad Bradford will need to continue to step up if the Rays are to stand a chance.

The Rays won the season series 10-8, but the Red Sox have to be considered the favorite here.

Probable Pitchers

Game 1 (10/10) - Dice-K vs. James Shields
Game 2 (10/11) - Josh Beckett vs. Scott Kazmir
Game 3 (10/13) - Matt Garza vs. Jon Lester
Game 4 (10/14) - Andy Sonnanstine vs. Tim Wakefield
Game 5 (10/16) - James Shields vs. Dice-K
Game 6 (10/18) - Josh Beckett vs. Scott Kazmir
Game 7 (10/19) - Jon Lester vs. Matt Garza

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The Pennant Race - 9/19

Fortunes changed in both the AL East and AL Central last night when the Twins met the Rays. Tampa had a 7-4 lead and led 8-6 in the 9th. Joe Maddon used Troy Percival as a set up man in the eighth before turning things over to Dan Wheeler in the ninth. Maddon would now like a do over. Alexi Castilla hit a game tying home run and the Twins scored three more times for an 11-8 victory.

The win moved the Twins back to 1.5 games of the White Sox, while the Rays lead, over the idle Red Sox, shrunk to 1.5 games. Lost in the loss with a monster, 3-home run night by Evan Longoria.

The Dodgers maintained their 3.5 game lead in the NL West, with a 3-2, 12 inning win over the Pirates. James Loney knocked in the game winner. The Diamonbacks kept pace with a 3-2 win over the Giants, as Randy Johnson and the Dbacks pen out pitched Tim Lincecum, who went the distance for San Fran. Adam Dunn singled in the game winner in the bottom of the eighth.

The Phillies nipped the Braves 4-3 on the strength of a 2-run home run by Pat Burrell and six strong innings from Cole Hamels (14-9). Ryan Howard picked up RBI #138.

The Mets remained a half-game back, behind a big game from Johan Santana (7 IP, 1 ER), with a 7-2 win over the Nationals. Santana's battery mate, Brian Schneider, provided the power with a pair of home runs.

The Mets also added a game on their wildcard lead when the Brewers blew a 4-run lead in the ninth to the Cubs. Rookie sensation Geovany Soto hit a game tying 3-run home run and Derrek Lee singled in the game winner in the 12th for a 7-6 Cubs win. Somewhere Harry Caray was yelling, "Cubs win, Cubs win.".

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The Pennant Race - 8/13

AL EAST

The Red Sox gained a game on the the Rays with a win in one of the wildest games in recent memory. The Sox jumped out to a 10-0 first inning lead with David Ortiz hitting a pair of 3-run home runs. As the Fenway faithful were yelling, "This is wicked awesome!", the Rangers started chipping away and put up an eight spot in the fifth inning. Trailing 12-10, the Rangers responded with a 5-run sixth inning. Suddenly the Rangers had a 16-14 lead. But no lead is safe in Fenway and it always helps to bat last. The Sox battered the Rangers bullpen for four more runs in the eighth, capped off with Kevin Youkilis' second home run, a 3-run shot. Texas got one back off Jon Papelbon in the ninth, but the Red Sox held on for a 19-17 win.

The Red Sox look like they have one more loss though, Mike Lowell to the DL with a strained oblique. Shortstop Julio Lugo isn't expected back until September, so Youkilis will probably move to third base, with Sean Casey taking over at first.

Meanwhile A's rookie Gio Gonzalez picked up his first major league victory with five innings of work in Oakland's 2-1 win over Tampa. The Rays have to be concerned about their offense now with Evan Longoria out until approximately September 1, and Carl Crawford done for the season with a tendon tear in his finger. One month of Barry Bonds? A deal for Gary Sheffield?


AL CENTRAL

The White Sox leaped over the Twins and back into first place with a 9-0 white washing of the Royals. Javier Vazquez struck out 10 in eight innings to improve to 9-10. The home run happy Chisox got blasts from Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzyinski, and Nick Swisher.

Tigers owner Mike Illitch had enough of Gary Sheffield's mouth and ordered the team to put him on waivers. Sheffield responded by hitting two home runs. The Tigers look like they may also shut down Joel Zumaya with continuing arm problems.


AL WEST

The Angels won for a change, 7-3 over Seattle. K-Rod picked up his 44th save. Mark Teixeira has 10 RBI in 12 games with the Halos.


NL EAST

Mets fans and radio talking heads have been getting on Johan Santana for his habit of giving up leads as soon as the Mets get them. The two time Cy Young winner blew two leads last night, but the Mets pulled out a 4-3 win when Damion Easley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Santana earned his 10th win.

The Mets picked up a game on the Phillies, whose bullpen blew a lead late to the Dodgers. Cole Hamels departed the game with a 3-2 lead after seven innings, but Chad Durbin gave up the tying run in the eighth and J.C. Romero was tagged for a walk-off single by LA's Andre Ethier for a 4-3 loss.

The Phillies pen took another hit when it was learned that they will probably be without Tom Gordon for the rest of the year.

Hanley Ramirez's second inning 3-run home run withstood the Cardinals and a lengthy rain delay, in the Marlins' 4-3 win. Rookie Chris Volstad outpitched 13-game winner Kyle Lohse for his fourth win.


NL CENTRAL

With the Cubs and Braves rained out, the Brewers were able to gain a half-game in the standings with a 5-2 win over the Padres. Jeff Suppan pitched 4-hit ball for eight innings and Mike Cameron and Prince Fielder went deep.


NL WEST

The Diamondbacks retained their one game lead on the Dodgers with a 4-2 triumph over the Rockies. Randy Johnson earned his 10th win of the season and career win number 294. Newcomer Adam Dunn was 1-3 with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.

The Arizona Republic reported that Micah Owings may be one of the players going to Cincinnati in exchange for Dunn.

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Mustache Still Trails

The Yankees gave out mustaches to a packed house at the Stadium yesterday, but barring a last hour surge, it doesn't appear Jason Giambi will make the All-Star team.

As of this morning, Evan Longoria of the Rays and the White Sox Jermaine Dye were ahead of Giambi in a tight race for the "Final Vote".

Mike Mussina is backing the G though.

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Around the Horn - 5/20

Quite a night for the Red Sox Jon Lester. The cancer survivor had already been the winning pitcher in last year's World Series clincher, but last night he accomplished something for his own game- a complete game no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals. Lester threw a career high 130 pitches, issuing 2 walks while striking out 9 as the Sox won 9-0. He walked the lead off man, Estaban German to start the 9th, but retired Tony Pena Jr. and David DeJesus on ground outs, and struck out Alberto Collaspo to seal the deal. He was mobbed his teammate and coaches while a jubilant Fenway Park crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Evan Longoria's 2-run home run in the 13th inning gave the Rays a 7-6 win over the A's. Daric Barton tripled in a run in the bottom of the 13th, but was left stranded at 3rd.

Howie Clark, A-Rod's "HA" guy, singled in the game winner in the Twins 7-6 win over the Rangers in 12 innings. Joe Mauer tied the game off of closer C.J. Wilson in the 9th with an RBI single.

Alfonso Soriano didn't drive in any runs, but rookie stand out, Geovany Soto came through with an inside the park 3-run home run against the Astros. Replays showed the Soto's should have been called a home run (seems to be an epidemic of this going on), but he made it the hard way anyway. The Cubs won it 7-2.

Yorvit Torrealba's 2-run double in the bottom of the 6th rallied the Rockies to a 4-3 win over the Giants. Jason Grilli earned his first win since being acquired by Colorado.

Blake DeWitt came up with a walk off RBI single in the Dodgers 6-5 win over the Reds. Adam Dunn homered for the 5th straight game for Cincy.

Tim Redding and 3 relievers shutout the Phillies 4-0. Lastings Milledge drove in 2 runs for the Nationals.

The Cardinals banged out 16 hits in an 8-2 win over the Padres. Red hot Ryan Ludwick hit his 4th home run in the last 3 games, and Albert Pujols smacked a pair.

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Around the Horn - 4/17

6-hours, 16 minutes. That's how long it took the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres to complete 22 innings of baseball. Troy Tulowitzki, in his 10th plate appearance, doubled in the game winner. The final out was recorded 1:21 a.m. PDT.

Jeff Francis (7 IP 0 R 7 K) and Jake Peavy (8 IP 0 R 11 K) started the pitchers duel off. No one scored until the 14th inning when both teams put a runner across home plate.

The Phillies belted 4 home runs in thrashing the Astros 10-2. Pat Burrell continued his hot start (.373-6-17) with a home run, single, and 2 RBI.

The Mets and Nationals went 14 innings before Joel Hanrahan wild pitched home the winning run.

The Brewers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Cardinals 5-3 in 10 innings. Prince Fielder ended his month long home drought with a game winning 2-run blast.

Joey Votto homered and drove in 5 runs in the Reds 9-2 win over the Cubs. Ken Griffey Jr. slugged a 3-run shot, the 596th of his career.

Chipper Jones, Mark Teixeira, and Brian McCann hit consecutive home runs in the 5th inning to propel the Braves past the Marlins 8-0. Jones went 4-4 with a pair of home runs as John Smoltz picked up his 210th career win.

In an AL Central battle of heavyweights, Fausto Carmona and the Indians outpitched Justin Verlander and the Tigers. The Tribe won 11-1 with a 13 hit attack. The game also featured some hit batters (Verlander into Garko's back) and clear retaliation (Carmona and Sheffield), but no ejections.

Vincente Padilla outpitched Roy Halladay in the Rangers 4-1 win over the Blue Jays. Halladay pitched his 2nd straight complete game.

The Mariners used a 5-run 3rd inning to beat the A's 8-1. Raul Ibanez (.343) and Jose Lopez had 3 hits each. After Kurt Suzuki (.327), the highest average in the A's lineup was Ryan Sweeney at .267.

The Orioles rallied from 2 down in the 9th against White Sox closer Bobby Jenks, and Adam Jones stroked the game winning single in the 10th.

Eric Hinske homered and Jason Hammel picked up his first win in the Rays 7-3 victory over the Twins. Carlos Pena had to leave the game with a hamstring injury and has been listed as day-to-day.

Garrett Anderson drove in 3 runs and John Garland improved to 2-2 in the Angels 5-3 win against the Royals. David DeJesus already bothered by a bad ankle this year, had to leave the game with a jammed toe.

News and Notes

Evan Longoria has only played 6 major league games, but the Rays know what they've got. That's why they've signed him to a 9-year, $44 million deal.

Braves pitcher Peter Moylan may have to have season ending elbow surgery, but the Braves are still looking into all the options.

Miguel Tejada may or may not have lied about P.E.D. use, but he did lie about his age. Tejada admitted yesterday that he's 33 not 31.

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Cano is Mightier than the Pen

The Yankees had the perfect ingredients for a win last night- good starting pitching and a lively offense. Then the bullpen took over and suddenly a sure Yankees win was a 7-7 tie with the Rays entering the 8th inning. That's when a slumping Robinson Cano came off the bench to save the day.

Cano, mired in a season long slump, drilled an Al Reyes fastball into the right field seats for his first home run of the season and an 8-7 Yankees lead. Brian Bruney, who had allowed a pair of home runs, and Mariano Rivera then retired the final six Rays hitters to seal the victory.

Ian Kennedy, who was hammered by the Rays back on April 4, was cruising along with a 7-2 lead entering the 7th inning. But leading off the inning, shortstop Jason Bartlett drilled a line drive off of Kennedy's hip for an infield single. Joe Girardi and trainer Gene Monahan went out to the mound and removed the obviously aching rookie right-hander.

Lefty specialist Billy Traber failed for the first time this season. After retiring Aki Iwamura, Traber allowed a 2-run home run to Carl Crawford and then hit Carlos Pena. Girardi sent for Bruney, who had been nothing short of magnificent this season. But B.J. Upton jumped on a Bruney delivery for a 2-run home run to cut the lead to one, and then rookie Evan Longoria tied the game with his first major league home run.

The Yankees looked like they were going to make it an easy night when they jumped on Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine in the 1st inning. Johnny Damon lead off the ball with his first home run of the season and two batters later Alex Rodriguez connected for a monstrous home run for a quick 2-o lead.

A-Rod made more history with his third home run of the season. He tied Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 15th place on the all-time home run list with 521, and passed Bobby Murcer for 19th on the all-time time Yankees list with his 176th long ball since the beginning of the 2004 season. The 3rd Baseman had gone 2-13 with no RBI in Boston, but bounced back with a 4-5 night.

Morgan Ensberg made it a 3-0 game in the 2nd with his first home run of the year and then the Yankees seemingly broke the game open with a 4-run 4th inning. Damon doubled home two runs to more than double his season RBI total (5), and Derek Jeter, back in the lineup for the first time in a week, single in two more for a 7-1 Yankees lead.

Thankfully for the Yankees they still had one more run left in them.

News and Notes

Joba Chamberlain released a statement to the press saying that his father's condition was still critical, but he had stabilized.

Derek Jeter ran smoothly last night after sitting out a week with a quad strain. His bat looked good too as he had a couple of hits.

Melky Cabrera has been overlooked in the Yankees 7-7 start. With 2 hits last night, he's batting .306 and has reached base safely in 9 of the 10 games he has played.this season. He also stole his first base last night.

Rookie phenom Evan Longoria is 4-9 in his first three games in the majors.

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	5	2	2	3	0	1	0	.213
Jeter, SS	5	0	2	2	0	0	0	.241
Abreu, RF	5	0	1	0	0	0	2	.294
Rodriguez, 3B	5	1	4	1	0	0	2	.309
Matsui, DH	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	.304
Ensberg, 1B	5	1	2	1	0	2	0	.385
Cabrera, CF	5	1	2	0	0	0	1	.306
Moeller, C	4	1	1	0	0	2	1	.250
Gonzalez, 2B	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	.333
a-Cano, PH-2B	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	.185
Totals	42	8	15	8	1	5	12
a-Homered for Gonzalez in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Damon (3, Sonnanstine). HR: Damon (1, 1st inning off Sonnanstine, 0 on, 0 out), Rodriguez (3, 1st inning off Sonnanstine, 0 on, 2 out), Ensberg (1, 2nd inning off Sonnanstine, 0 on, 0 out), Cano (1, 8th inning off Reyes, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Damon 6; Jeter 2; Abreu; Rodriguez 7; Ensberg 5; Cabrera 2; Moeller; Cano 4. RBI: Damon 3 (5), Rodriguez (8), Ensberg (1), Jeter 2 (3), Cano (3). 2-out RBI: Rodriguez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Matsui 2; Gonzalez; Rodriguez. GIDP: Matsui. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Cabrera (1, 2nd base off Dohmann/Riggans).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Kennedy	6.0	8	3	3	2	4	0	8.74
Traber	0.1	1	2	2	0	0	1	4.91
Bruney (BS, 1)(W, 1-0)	1.1	2	2	2	0	1	2	2.16
Rivera (S, 4)	1.1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00

Tampa Bay	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Iwamura, 2B	4	0	0	0	1	0	1	.235
Crawford, LF	4	1	2	3	0	1	0	.228
Pena, 1B	4	1	0	0	0	1	2	.191
Upton, CF	5	1	2	2	0	1	0	.313
Longoria, 3B	3	2	2	1	1	0	0	.444
Hinske, DH	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	.323
Riggans, C	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	.200
Haynes, RF	4	1	1	0	0	2	3	.231
Bartlett, SS	4	1	1	0	0	1	1	.167
Totals	36	7	11	7	2	7	10
BATTING 2B: Longoria (1, Kennedy), Hinske (4, Kennedy). HR: Crawford (1, 7th inning off Traber, 1 on, 1 out), Upton (2, 7th inning off Bruney, 1 on, 1 out), Longoria (1, 7th inning off Bruney, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Crawford 5; Upton 5; Longoria 6; Hinske 3; Riggans; Haynes; Bartlett. RBI: Crawford 3 (7), Hinske (5), Upton 2 (13), Longoria (2). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Haynes 2. SF: Crawford. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Upton (4, 2nd base off Kennedy/Moeller), Haynes (4, 2nd base off Kennedy/Moeller). CS: Upton (2, 3rd base by Kennedy/Moeller). FIELDING E: Longoria (1, fielding). DP: (Iwamura-Bartlett-Pena).

Tampa Bay	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Sonnanstine	3.1	9	7	7	1	2	3	8.80
Dohmann	3.2	4	0	0	0	0	0	3.68
Reyes (L, 1-2)	0.2	2	1	1	0	2	1	9.00
Glover	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.38

Kennedy pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

HBP: Pena (by Traber).
Pitches-strikes: Kennedy 94-60, Traber 11-6, Bruney 20-16, Rivera 14-10, Sonnanstine 62-45, Dohmann 47-30, Reyes 26-16, Glover 12-9.
Ground outs-fly outs: Kennedy 6-7, Traber 0-1, Bruney 2-1, Rivera 1-1, Sonnanstine 6-2, Dohmann 7-4, Reyes 0-0, Glover 2-1.
Batters faced: Kennedy 27, Traber 3, Bruney 6, Rivera 4, Sonnanstine 20, Dohmann 14, Reyes 5, Glover 4.
Inherited runners-scored: Traber 1-1, Bruney 1-1, Dohmann 1-0, Glover 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Brian Runge. 1B: Charlie Reliford. 2B: Greg Gibson. 3B: Chris Guccione.
Weather: 72 degrees, dome.
Wind: Indoors.
T: 3:05.
Att: 18,872.

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