The Tampa Bay Rays are in the 2008 World Series after they beat the Boston Red Sox 3-1 in Game Seven of the ALC Series.
Tampa Bay edge out Red Sox
The Tampa Bay Rays are in the 2008 World Series after they beat the Boston Red Sox 3-1 in Game Seven of the American League Championship Series.
The night didn't start in celebration, after Red Sox hitter Dustin Pedroia gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the first inning off pitcher Matt Garza.
However Garza was then virtually unhittable, going for one hit and no runs over the next six innings.
Jon Lester was as good as Garza until the bottom of the fourth inning, but he unravelled a bit and gave up a game-tying double to Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, who scored Carlos Pena.
In the bottom of the fifth Rocco Baldelli scored Willy Aybar with a single to make it 2-1 to Tampa Bay.
And the Rays fans - who were noisy for the whole night inside a packed Tropicana Field - were cheering even more loudly when Aybar crushed a Lester pitch for a home run to make it 3-1.
But the drama wasn't over yet.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Red Sox had the bases loaded with two out, but David Price, the Rays' relief pitcher, got JD Drew - a hero of the series' fifth game - striking out swinging.
And in the bottom of the ninth, Tampa Bay pitcher David Price walked Jason Bay, but then struck out Mark Kotsay and Jason Varitek. Pinch hitter Jed Lowrie couldn't make the Red Sox' season last any longer when he hit the ball to second base for the ground out, and the Rays were in the World Series.
The Rays will face the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.
