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Powerful Rays Blistering Red Sox

Posted on: Wednesday, 15 October 2008, 08:00 CDT

By Mel Antonen

BOSTON -- Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield served them up. The Tampa Bay Rays swatted them over the 37-foot Green Monster.

By the time it was over Tuesday, the Rays' persistent power surge produced three more home runs, quieting usually rowdy Fenway Park and beating the Boston Red Sox 13-4 in Game4 to move Tampa Bay within a win of going to the World Series for the first time in the franchise's 11-year history.

"If the crowd gets into it, it's an uphill battle to eliminate them," Rays third baseman Evan Longoria said. "It was pretty silent in the eighth and ninth innings. That's never happened before."

Carlos Pena and Longoria hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning against Wakefield's knuckleball to give the Rays a 3-0 lead. Longoria's homer was his fifth of the playoffs, establishing a postseason rookie record.

Then, in the third inning, Willy Aybar hit a two-run homer to make it 5-0 Rays.

"It was great fun; it was like watching a light show," Rays pitcher James Shields said.

The Rays, who won 97 games to win the AL East, are known for their pitching, defense and timely hitting. They also hit 180 home runs during the regular season, tied for fourth-most in the league.

In their two ALCS games combined in Boston, the Rays have hit seven home runs, all disappearing over the Green Monster. And one, by B.J. Upton, left the park completely.

Overall, Tampa Bay has hit 10 home runs in the ALCS.

The Rays say home runs come when they don't try to hit them.

"We don't set out to hit home runs," said Pena, who led Tampa Bay with 31 home runs during the regular season. "It shows we are doing the little things well. We are seeing the ball, keeping things simple.

"We swing at strikes, take balls, and we have a good approach at the plate. None of the home runs we intended to hit. Next thing you know, we do. It means we are doing something right."

Aybar, a switch-hitting utility player who hit five home runs in 30 games when Longoria was sidelined with a fractured right wrist during the season, said the plan against Wakefield was to make sure he got his pitches up in the strike zone and then wait an instant longer to swing.

"I feel great; I feel proud," Aybar said. "It was a great night for the whole team. And it was one of the longest balls I have ever hit."

Longoria, who beat the record held by the Florida Marlins' Miguel Cabrera from 2003, hit 27 home runs during the regular season. As he stood at his locker after the game, he was told about breaking Cabrera's record.

He seemed oblivious.

"Is that right?" Longoria answered. "It really doesn't matter what my stats are, as long as we win."

(c) Copyright 2008 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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Image Caption: Bench-clearing brawl on June 5, 2008 game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays. Courtesy Kevin Bedell - Wikipedia

Source: USA TODAY

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