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.
“The feeling was amazing,” Crisp said. “I kind of choked up. I was as happy as I’ve ever been on a baseball field to get that hit and tie the ballgame.”
The winning rally came off left-hander J.P. Howell and was aided by a throwing error by third baseman Evan Longoria, who allowed Kevin Youkilis to reach with two outs. Jason Bay was intentionally walked, bringing Drew to the plate. He then lined a 3-1 pitch from Howell over right fielder Gabe Gross’ head, bringing Youkilis home with the winning run.
“I’ve never seen a group so happy to get on a plane at 1:30 in the morning in my life,” manager Terry Francona said. “That was pretty magical.”
The Red Sox did come into this game with a history of dramatic October comebacks, most notably their historic resurrection from a 3-0 deficit to the Yankees in 2004 but also last fall’s rally against an Indians team that opened up a 3-1 series lead.
Perhaps trying to capture some of that past mojo, the Sox offered up all kinds of reminders of those glorious moments before the game. A video chronicling the Yankees series played on the Jumbotron as final warmups were taking place. And the ceremonial first pitch was thrown by none other than Curt Schilling, hero of the 2004 squad who was sidelined this season with an injured shoulder.
But Schilling’s half-hearted offering to the plate — it traveled no more than 55 feet — looked like it would foretell what would transpire the rest of the evening. Boston was coming up short in every which way.
Starter Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed a first-inning homer to Upton, giving the Rays an early 2-0 lead and causing trepidation throughout the ballpark.
Tampa Bay continued to take advantage of the inviting dimensions at Fenway from the moment the series shifted north Monday, whacking pitches over and out of this ballpark at every opportunity.
Right in the middle of all that was Carlos Pena, who homered over the Green Monster in both Games 3 and 4 and on Thursday actually decided to pull a ball down the right-field line for a change. His two-run homer in the third sailed past Pesky’s Pole and into the stands, extending the lead to 4-0.
Five pitches later, Longoria duplicated his teammate’s feat, blasting another shot over the Monster to make it 5-0. That was the rookie’s fourth homer in as many games, a stunning feat for a guy who didn’t turn 23 until after he had already played in his first postseason game.
Two more runs in the seventh made it 7-0 and surely left the visiting clubhouse attendants hanging plastic wrap over the lockers in anticipation of a celebration.
Little did anyone realize the real celebration at night’s end would take place inside the home clubhouse.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Crisp said. “To come back from a deficit like that and win a ballgame and keep ourselves alive, get on a flight together instead of each individual going to their hometown? It’s a great feeling.”
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