Improbable comeback sends series to Tampa by Mike Ghika
Finally, the Sox are the ones who come out on top

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

Sure, the Sox have made a name for themselves as the best comeback team in sports thus far in this century. But in this instance, last night’s Game 5 was not supposed to turn out the way it did. By nature, the Tampa Bay Rays were supposed to get out to a 5-0 lead for a third straight game at Fenway, continue to make fools of Red Sox pitchers, while the Sox offense persisted in looking lost and confused at the plate.

Instead, down 7-0 in the seventh with just seven outs left in their season, that same Sox offense began to chip away en route to the second largest comeback in playoff history. On a 3 and 2 count, Dustin Pedroia was the man to get it started with a sharp single to right in front of Gabe Gross that produced Jed Lowrie. David Ortiz followed up (and woke up) with a 3-run blast off of an inside Grant Balfour fastball, as Sox fans wondered if he would finally get the perfect pitch down and in.

Dan Wheeler relieved Balfour and got Kevin Youkilis to fly to right to escape the seventh, but after that he looked nothing like he did in Game 2, when he had his legendary 3.1 IP performance. Instead, he opened up the eight inning with a four-pitch walk to Jason Bay, and JD Drew continued his string of clutch postseason performances with a shot into the right-field seats to make it 7-6.

Wheeler then conceivably settled down when he got Lowrie to fly out and pinch hitter Sean Casey to strike out swinging. But with two outs, the Sox somehow found some more 2-out magic, as first-baseman Mark Kotsay (.286, 3 2B this series) doubled over the head of center fielder BJ Upton to get into scoring position for Coco Crisp. Crisp, who has clearly earned the right to start over Jacoby Ellsbury for the remainder of this series, worked a phenomenal at-bat against Wheeler before lining a single to right to easily score Kotsay. Suddenly, a seven-run deficit had been erased and the Sox had new life.

Nonetheless, Terry Francona had already gone to Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon, meaning it was up to Justin Masterson to hold down the tie score in the ninth. Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett continued his steady play with a soft single into left center to start things off, but the young Masterson got the dangerous Akinori Iwamura to fly out harmlessly to Bay in left. But after Upton drew a walk (something he in fact does very often, which has me really impressed with this kid), the Rays suddenly had two on with one out with Carlos Pena stepping to the plate, a man who grounded into just two double plays all season long. But regardless of statistics, Pena could not avoid Masterson’s forte, as the right-hander induced the slugger into a 4-6-3 twin killing.

In the bottom half of the ninth, with their backs to the wall but with momentum at their side, Pedroia and Ortiz were made quick work of by Rays’ lefty JP Howell. Nonetheless, the Sox continued on with another two-out rally. Youkilis fouled off pitch after pitch against Howell before tapping a grounder down the third base line. The sure-handed Evan Longoria (whose homer earlier gave him long-balls in four straight postseason games, a major league record) charged and picked it on the backhand, but rushed a throw that he bounced well in front of Pena at first. Instead of conceding the base runner and blocking the ball, Pena instead tried to dig the throw and it ended up in the stands, putting Youkilis in scoring position. After an intentional walk to Bay by Howell to get to the left-handed Drew, the oft-injured outfielder had a shot at yet another game-winner (please take time to recall his Game 2 ALDS homer and his grand slam in Game 6 of last year’s ALCS). And once again, the $70 million dollar man came up money with a liner up over Gross’s head in right, the unearned run accounting for the game-winner.

But through seven innings, it looked as if the Rays were going to pound their way to Embarrassment Part III at Fenway. Instead, the Sox continued their string of legendary Game 5’s. Ortiz’s walk-off single in 2004’s Game 5 won the ESPY for Game of the Year, and there is no reason why the 2008 version shouldn’t deserve the nod. They also got the enormous effort from Josh Beckett in last year’s Game 5 in Cleveland, as Sox fans hope his health holds up well enough for Game 6 in Tampa.

Many may call it a miracle, but from the coaches to the players in that Sox clubhouse, they will say they knew they had the ability to do what they did on Thursday night. Now Joe Maddon and his Rays unexpectedly go back home deflated and perhaps looking for answers. Now buried are the notions that this postseason was not as special as 2004 and 2007. As I’ve felt all season long, this is a special ball club with a special purpose, and regardless of what happens Saturday and potentially Sunday in Tampa, the Sox’s Game 5 team effort proves that.

The Rays had it wrapped up. It’s not as if they let it get away. It’s that a special team took it from them. Again, it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.


Published on October 16, 2008

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