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Sox celebrate quietly after clinching playoff berth »
September 22, 2007
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- If Saturday night was a glimpse into the Red Sox' playoff future, October could truly be a month to remember in New England.
After having blown a 5-3 lead in the seventh inning, the Red Sox got ninth-inning home runs from Jason Varitek and Julio Lugo off Devil Rays closer Al Reyes and pulled out an 8-6 victory that put them into the postseason. Boston's victory, coupled with the Tigers' loss to the Royals, clinched a playoff spot for the Red Sox.
''It means a lot to us. Just getting to the playoffs, that's the important thing,'' Lugo told NESN's Tina Cervasio immediately after the game. ''Winning the division is nice, but the main thing is going to the playoffs.''
The Sox lowered their magic number for clinching the A.L. East to six. But even if they lose the division, last night's victory and the Tigers' loss guaranteed the Red Sox will at least win the wild card.
Reyes came on in the ninth with the Devil Rays leading 6-5, but Varitek tied the game with a leadoff home run to left field. Eric Hinske followed with a double down the right-field line, putting the go-ahead run at second with nobody out.
Coco Crisp failed to advance the runner, popping up on a 3-and-2 pitch, but Lugo made it a moot point by blasting a long homer to left, putting Boston on top 8-6.
Eric Gagne, who had pitched a scoreless eighth, got the victory. Jonathan Papelbon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.
Daisuke Matsuzaka had seemed well on his way to his 15th victory, as his teammates handed him a 5-2 lead in the fifth. But he allowed a run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Greg Norton, and then got lifted after walking Akinori Iwamura and Jorge Velandia with two outs and nobody on in the seventh.
Javier Lopez came on to pitch to the left-handed Carlos Pena and got ahead on the count 0-and-2. Pena, however, worked the count to 3-and-2, then deposited a fastball deep into the right-field stands for a three-run homer -- his second home run of the game -- and put Tampa Bay ahead, 6-5.
The Sox had taken a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by Jacoby Ellsbury, and increased it to 3-0 in the third on a run-scoring double by J.D. Drew followed by an RBI single by Varitek.
The Devil Rays got two runs back in the bottom of the third when Pena homered, leading off the inning, and Norton singled in Delmon Young from second with two outs. Drew hit a two-run homer in the top of the fifth, making it 5-2, but another RBI single by Norton, this one in the sixth, cut the lead to 5-3.
Posted by Art Martone 
at 10:34 PM | Permalink
