The Tampa Bay Devil*Rays knocked off their second straight playoff opponent named for hosiery with a 3-1 home victory over the Red Sox, advancing to the 2008 Major League World Series in the process. And clear a space for an American League pennant.
I predicted that the Rays would win the series if they played to their potential in the final two games. I don't think the Rays played quite to their potential in either game six or game seven. The Red Sox earned the win in game six without much help from the Rays other than over-aggressiveness at the plate. The Rays held on to win game seven despite another error from regular season MVP Jason Bartlett, thanks in great part to another sensational pitching performance by Matt Garza.
The Rays also got some benefit from the home plate umpire in the last two innings, which I have little doubt will lead to bitter complaints by Red Sox fan.
Though I did not watch the entire game because of a scheduling conflict, I saw Carlos Pena once again get called out on high strikes over the belt. Belt-high pitches against David Ortiz were called balls, from what I saw.
Just as during the regular season, the Rays demonstrated they were the better team in spite of the commission of some errors characteristic of a young team. Talent and effort have made up the difference.
B .J. Upton gets my series MVP award from great hitting and fielding. Matt Garza rates honorable mention for two scintillating ALCS starts, as does Evan Longoria for showing Alex Rodriguez a thing or two about how to hit the long ball as a third baseman in the playoffs.
Rookie left handed pitcher David Price also rates special mention for tacking down the game seven win. The Rays bullpen struggled with the tough Red Sox lineup ever since "Sweet Caroline" was sung at Fenway during game five. Price stepped in and offered Red Sox hitters an unfamiliar look at excellent stuff--and he was close enough to the plate to make a believer out of the umpire. And regardless of any help from the umpire, I didn't see the bottom of the Sox batting order coming through against Price on Sunday night.
Sweetest of all, of course, are the bragging rights Rays fans get over the uber-irritating Red Sox fan. That is golden.
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