Saturday American League Capsule.
BOSTON 4, TAMPA BAY 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida The comeback kids struck again, and now it all boils down to one game.

Jason Varitek homered and Kevin Youkilis drove in two runs to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game Six of the American League Championship Series.

Josh Beckett turned in five solid innings and Coco Crisp had three hits for the Red Sox, who forced a deciding Game Seven on Sunday.

Boston looked to be on the verge of elimination in Game Five at Fenway Park on Thursday, when the Rays held a 7-0 lead in the seventh inning. But the Red Sox battled back for the win, becoming the first team since 1929 to overcome a deficit of seven runs in a playoff game.

They carried that momentum into Saturdays contest, erasing an early deficit behind Becketts right arm and some clutch hitting from an unlikely source.

With the game tied at 2-2 with two outs in the sixth, Varitek came up to face righthander James Shields. Bostons captain, who had yet to record a hit in the series, grabbed hold of a 2-0 fastball and pulled it into the seats in right-center field to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.

Shields was lifted after allowing an infield hit by Crisp, and Boston added an insurance run due to some poor fielding by Tampa Bay. Dustin Pedroia hit a grounder to shortstop that Jason Bartlett fielded and threw wide of first base, keeping alive the inning.

David Ortiz followed with an RBI single to center off lefthander J.P. Howell to push it to 4-2.

Beckett (1-0) – who has pitched with an injured oblique muscle all postseason – battled through five innings, allowing two runs – both on solo homers – and four hits while walking one and striking out three. He threw 50 of 78 pitches for strikes, topping out at 93 miles per hour with his fastball but relying on a potent curveball and a changeup with some late fade.

It was a swift departure from his Game Two start, in which he surrendered eight runs in 4 1/3 innings and had trouble commanding his fastball, leading some to speculate about whether he had recovered enough from his injury to be able to pitch effectively.

The bullpen took over from there, with Hideki Okajima, Justin Masterson and Jonathan Papelbon combining for four hitless innings.

Big Game James Shields (0-2) suffered his second loss of the series, yielding four runs – three earned – and nine hits while walking three and striking out three.

The Rays jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first, when Upton continued his onslaught against Boston pitching by driving a 3-2 fastball from Beckett into the left-field seats. It was Uptons seventh homer of the playoffs, the third-highest total for one postseason.

The 24-year-old slugger, who managed only nine blasts during the regular season, has four in this series.

Tampa Bays lead was short-lived, however, as Youkilis led off the second by driving a 2-1 pitch from Shields over the wall in left to knot the game at 1-1.

Youkilis struck again in the third, capping a rally with an RBI groundout. Pedroia drew a one-out walk before Ortiz pulled a double just inside the first base bag and down the right field line, putting runners on second and third.

With the infield back, Youkilis tapped an 0-1 pitch to shortstop, allowing Pedroia to score.

Beckett set down 10 of 12 before Dioner Navarro led off the fifth with a single. Ben Zobrist was retired on a flyout to center before Navarro was erased at second base on a botched hit-and-run play.

With the bases clear, Bartlett, who hit only one homer during the regular season, stroked a solo blast down the left field line to tie it at 2-2.

Posted on October 19th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: MLB Baseball News