Red Sox Magical Run Continues, Beat Rays 4-2 to Force Game 7
Sunday, October 19th, 2008 | MLB, Sports
The Boston Red Sox defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 in Game 6 of the ALCS. The teams traded home runs by the Rays B.J. Upton and the Red Sox Kevin Youkilis. Kevin Youkilis added an RBI groundout in the 3rd inning to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. Rays shortstop and 9th man in the order, Jason Bartlett, tied the game in the 5th inning with a solo home run. In the top of the 6th inning, Red Sox Catcher and Captain picked up his 1st hit of the 2008 ALCS – a solo home run to right field which put the Sox ahead for good. Following a Bartlett error that would have gotten the Rays out of the inning, the Red Sox scored an all-important insurance run on an RBI single by David Ortiz to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead. Josh Beckett picked up the win for the Red Sox in an efficient 78-pitch, 5 inning gutty performance. He gave up only 2 earned runs and 4 hits and stayed out of any serious jams. The Red Sox relievers did the rest – Hideki Okajima pitched 2 innings, John Masterson pitched 1 inning and Jonathan Papelbon pitched the 9th inning for the save – only allowing 1 Rays batter to reach base with a walk in the final 4 innings of the game. Rays starter James Shields pitched well despite not having good stuff all night long. He lasted into the 6th inning with over 100 pitches, and gave up 4 runs on 9 hits and 3 walks.
The Red Sox and Rays will determine the AL Pennant-winner in Game 7 of the ALCS on Sunday, October 19th. The Red Sox will throw ace Jon Lester, while the Rays will counter with Matt Garza.
