Magical journey has hit a bump in the road
When the Rays arrived in Boston last Sunday, Carlos Peña stood in the visitors' clubhouse at Fenway Park and spoke of the journey the youthful American League East champions had taken to reach this point.
"It's been magical," said Peña. "It really has."
The Rays became the second AL team to go from last place one season to first place the next, after the 1991 Minnesota Twins. Tampa Bay spent the last 75 days of the regular season atop the division and 111 days in first overall, which was 91 more days on top than their first 10 seasons combined.
Last night in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series against the Red Sox, the Rays tried to add to their growing mystique by earning their first World Series berth in their first postseason appearance. But they were forced to put their celebration on hold after blowing a 7-0 lead in last night's 8-7 setback before a delirious Fenway Park crowd of 38,437.
"I think what [Peña] was talking about is that point when everybody starts really believing, and when you really believe you can do something," manager Joe Maddon said before the game. "You get to this particular juncture and you know you've earned the right to be here, then you get here, and especially for the first time there's a certain amount of trepidation, how does this work, how do I do this . . .
"And then finally when you win a couple of [postseason] games and, of course, when you advance in the series, the confidence starts to build."
And so, too, does the aura surrounding the team, especially after the Rays eliminated the White Sox in the Division Series in four games and rallied from a Game 1 loss in the ALCS to win three in a row in stunning fashion and push the reigning world champions to the brink of elimination.
But the Sox added to their own postseason aura as a never-say-die team last night, sending the series back to Tampa.
Asked if he had ever seen such a large swing in a game of this magnitude, Maddon said, "Let's go back to the 2002 World Series when the Giants just clubbed us in Game 5 [16-4]. They absolutely brutalized us and then it's 5-0 in Game 6 before we were able to come back [to win, 6-5].
"From our perspective, that's a big win for them tonight, no question. Our hat's off to them. They're very capable of that stuff, but by the time we get to the airplane, I want our guys to forget about it."
In Kazmir's corner
Widely criticized for his decision to start Scott Kazmir over James Shields last night, Maddon was asked if he was amused by the reaction, surprised, or if he just chalked it up to the media needing something to write about. "All of the above. You look at Scott Kazmir, he's a two-time All-Star. He's the best pitcher in the history of this organization."Kazmir didn't pitch in April because of a left elbow strain suffered in spring training, but in May he became the first Ray to be named AL Pitcher of the Month by going 5-1 with a 1.22 ERA in 37 innings. He entered last night's game with a 4-4 record and 3.02 ERA in 11 career starts at Fenway Park. Last night, he allowed two hits but no runs and struck out seven in six innings.
"If you told people in Boston last year that Kaz was going to pitch against them, they'd cringe," Maddon said. "And all of a sudden he's not that good.
"We had talked about this prior to the series ever beginning, if the circumstances presented themselves in a certain manner, and they have."
Long way around
B.J. Upton's two-run homer in the first inning and back-to-back shots by Peña (two-run) and Evan Longoria in the third gave the Rays 13 homers in the series, breaking the ALCS record set by the Red Sox (12) in 2003. Peña homered in his third consecutive game, while Longoria has gone deep in four straight . . . Although he hails from Hazleton, Pa., Maddon said he did not grow up a fan of the Phillies, who earned a World Series berth Wednesday night. "I grew up a Cardinals fan," he said. "I went down to see the Cardinals play the Phillies on several occasions, got a bunch of autographs. I actually have a Tito Francona [father of Sox manager Terry Francona] autograph in the Cardinals yearbook." As for Maddon's impression of the Phillies? "Just seeing them in the spring training, my impression of them was that they were more like an American League lineup," he said. "I thought their offense, they could pound the ball up and down the lineup. I was really impressed with that. I've always been a big fan of their MVP guys [Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins] but I liked [Shane] Victorino also. The thing I didn't know about them is how good their pitching was. You look at their bullpen, and of course, [Brad] Lidge doing what he's done this year has been spectacular. They're a good ball club." . . . No matter how this season winds up, Maddon already has plans mapped out for the offseason. "I'm getting married," he said. "Nov. 8, we're going to get married out in California, then we're going to go to Europe. I'm looking forward, hopefully, to successfully concluding this whole thing and get on a plane and getting over to Rome, getting off there and just putting a backpack on and hitting the trains and just having a good time."