Drew’s big hits save Red Sox

BOSTON — No one ever said this — toppling the Boston Red Sox and advancing to the first World Series in franchise history — would be easy.

If anything, the Tampa Bay Rays’ march through the American League Championship Series seemed too simple. Could this once downtrodden organization really dispense with the defending champions without breaking a sweat?

No, they could not. Even if they ultimately don’t retain their title, the Red Sox aren’t going to hand it over without putting up a fight, something that was all too much on display Thursday night.

Trailing by seven runs in the seventh inning of Game 5, Boston stormed all the way back in furious and stunning fashion, pulling off an 8-7 victory that will rank among the greatest comebacks in the history of the sport.

“It was pretty much the most amazing thing I’ve ever been a part of,” outfielder Coco Crisp said, surely echoing the sentiments of the 38,437 who were there to witness it firsthand.

J.D. Drew’s run-scoring single to right field in ninth sealed the biggest postseason comeback since the Philadelphia Athletics rallied from eight runs down to beat the Chicago Cubs in Game 4 of the 1929 World Series.

As the Red Sox mobbed Drew and the sellout crowd shook venerable Fenway Park, the shellshocked Rays retreated off the field and prepared to board a flight home to continue this series. An unlikely Game 6 will take place Saturday night at Tropicana Field, and even though Tampa Bay still holds a 3-2 series advantage, surely this young club will be the one under pressure to finish this thing off.

“I don’t think it will be that tough, actually,” manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s one game. It’s a loss. If you dwell on something like that and you permit your mind to dwell in that negative mode, then nothing good can happen after that.”

Game 5 was shaping up to be Tampa Bay’s third consecutive rout at Fenway. The Rays opened up a 5-0 lead in the third thanks to three more home runs, giving them an ALCS record 13 for the series. And left-hander Scott Kazmir, a controversial choice to start this game, tossed six shutout innings to put his team in prime position to finish off the Red Sox in dominant fashion.

“It definitely wasn’t looking good,” catcher Kevin Cash said.

But that’s when Boston finally decided to wake up and make one final push to keep its season alive.

It began with an RBI single by Dustin Pedroia during an eight-pitch at-bat against reliever Grant Balfour in the seventh. That set the stage for the most thunderous blast of this postseason: a three-run homer by David Ortiz (1-for-17 in the series to that point) that reignited the Fenway faithful.

“You could feel it in the ballpark,” Drew said. “That was instrumental, him hitting that home run right there.”

His team now clinging to a 7-4 lead, Maddon surprisingly handed the ball to his closer, Dan Wheeler, still needing seven outs to win the game. Wheeler wasn’t up to the task.

Drew crushed a two-run homer of his own in the eighth, cutting the lead to one. And after Mark Kotsay laced a two-out double off the outstretched glove of center fielder B.J. Upton, Crisp battled through a 10-pitch at-bat before lining the single to right that continued this unfathomable comeback and tied the game.

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