Article:Not All Sunshine & Lollipops



Rays & Red Sox  ALCS  Game 5

Not All Sunshine & Lollipops

So for those of you who turn it off or went home after BJ Upton banked a shot off the Green Monster in the Top of the 7 th boy did you miss a good one.

In the 1 st Inning BJ Upton slams a 2 Run HR and most of us said here we go again they are back at. After the last two games the Rays have put a unheard of beat down to the Red Sox in their own home in Fenway. Then again in the 3 rd Inning Carlos Pena & Evan Longoria went back to back with HR’s for the second straight game. The last nail in the coffin seemed like a sure thing up to this point. To top that off Scott Kazmir was pitching a gem with 7 K’s 2 walks No earned runs and 2 hits allowed for 6 Innings pitched. Now remember the hype around Maddon switching Kaz & Shieldzy in this game and how everyone that pitching Kaz was a mistake. Then in the Top of the 7 th BJ Upton hit a bullet that banked off the Green Monster with 2 runners on. The sound from the ball hitting the wall echoed throughout the park as the faces of all the Red Sox fans shown the assumable fate of the team. They were down 7-0. Then Joe Maddon goes the Bullpen who has carried the Rays all year and is contributed for a lot of their success. So no worries right? Well Big Papi Homers in the bottom of 7 th with runners on now you have a 7-4 score and the fans came alive. They were on their feet rooting their team on. As for this Century the Red Sox have not been an underdog or a curse over their head like in the last one. Then in the 8 th JD Drew homers with a runner on the make it 7-6. Now it is crazy at Fenway they are rockin the house. The Rays came into Fenway with the Series tied 1-1 and it seems completely unconceivable that the Rays have come into Fenway and on a verge of a sweep in Fenway in the Postseason. So everyone was hysterical in Fenway on their feet and cheering the Red Sox on. In the most Ironic thing of the night in my mind was to have Coco Crisp who had an altercation with the Rays earlier in the season fight off a 10 pitch at bat to score the tying run. Francona’s move to bring Papelbon proves to be a good move in the end. He stops the bleeding then allows Masterson to finish off the 9 th Inning. As for the Rays bullpen Balfour, Wheeler & Howell had a combined with 9 hits 9 earned runs 2 walks and only 2 K’s in 3 innings of work. Then in the bottom of the 9 th Evan Longoria grabs a ground ball that not many Third baseman could get has a bad throw that allows another runner on base that led to JD Drew’s base hit that scores the winning run. Making the series to go on another and make a game 6 necessary.

See ya in the Trop on Saturday for another great one