Once a rocky season, it's been a dream sequence for Baldelli

The Rays' third homer came from Rocco Baldelli (center), who drove in Dioner Navarro (left) and Fernando Perez. (Bill Greene/Globe Staff)

As he rounded the bases after hitting a mammoth three-run homer in the eighth inning of Tampa Bay's 9-1 victory over the Red Sox yesterday in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, Rocco Baldelli said all he thought about was finding his family in the stands. All he wanted, really, was to shoot them a knowing glance and a wave.

At no time, however, did he have any thoughts about how far he had come to reach that moment.

There were no flashbacks to spring training, when the 27-year-old outfielder from Woonsocket, R.I., struggled to hit in batting practice, when he labored to jog and play catch with his teammates. There were no thoughts about the mitochondrial disorder that forced him to miss the first 116 games of the season, or the doubts he expressed to his close teammates about making it back in time to be a part of the Rays' special season.

None of that crossed Baldelli's mind.

"Actually, I wasn't thinking anything in particular," Baldelli said. "I was just very excited. What I was thinking was I still hadn't found the family section and where my family's sitting, so I couldn't wave at 'em or point at 'em after that. So I kept looking as I was rounding third base, and I couldn't find them.

"I still have no idea where they were sitting. I looked the entire game and all I saw was Red Sox fans."

Baldelli sent most of the Fenway Faithful among the crowd of 38,031 scurrying for the exits when he launched a 2-1 offering from reliever Paul Byrd over The Wall, the ball ricocheting off the Sports Authority sign. It was the crowning blow of a 13-hit barrage that featured four home runs, including two in the third off Sox starter Jon Lester - B.J. Upton's three-run homer and Evan Longoria's solo shot.

But Baldelli's blast?

"I'm always happy when Rocco does something special," Longoria said. "For him to come as far as he's come, we didn't even know if he was going to be able to play this year. He's battled through so much adversity and for him to come up on the biggest stage that we've ever been on, for him to have that success, I was so happy for him."

Andy Sonnanstine, Baldelli's closest friend on the team, was equally thrilled. Before the game, Sonnanstine, who will take the mound for the Rays tonight, described how far Baldelli had come and how "it was like watching a son go out and play," when he was reinstated to the roster Aug. 10.

"I was ecstatic, especially for him to do that in front of his family and friends, I thought that was huge," Sonnanstine said. "The guy is one of the most underrated stories in America, not just in the sports world. His story alone is unbelievable and for him to perform like that was just awesome."

For the second game in a row, a Rhode Island Ray came up large for the AL East champs. In Game 2, it was Dan Wheeler of Warwick, who threw 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief that enabled the victorious Rays to send it into extra innings. Yesterday, Baldelli provided the heroics with his first postseason homer, which certainly had to come as a thrill for his 10-year-old little brother, Dante, whom Rocco hoisted from the stands and hosted in the dugout before the game.

"My mom and dad were like, 'Do you think you can get Dante on the field?' and Joe Maddon, he probably wouldn't bat an eye at anything like that," Baldelli said. "So I just picked him up and pulled him into the dugout.

"It's not something he's done before and to be able to do it at Fenway, with the playoffs going on, I think it was something he'll remember."