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Game Story: Red Sox 8, Devil Rays 6; Sox clinch playoff berth »
September 22, 2007
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- There was no raucous public celebration for the Red Sox after clinching a playoff spot last night.
''Cheers to Boston,'' Jonathan Papelbon told NESN's Tina Cervasio in a quiet, and mostly empty, clubhouse Saturday night after the Red Sox had guaranteed themselves a berth in the postseason with a come-from-behind, 8-6 win over the Devil Rays.
The clubhouse was closed to the media for approximately 10 minutes after the game ended, and not many players were at their lockers when the doors opened. There is a back room in the Tropicana Field clubhouse, and most of the players were still there when reporters were allowed in.
There were no plastic sheets over the lockers to protect them from spraying champagne, as were present when the Sox clinched wild-card berths in 2003, '04 and '05, and no champagne cases were seen, either. The manager, players and coaches enjoyed a toast in the back room, out of the public eye.
''It was such a roller-coaster game, I don't think any of us were [aware of the playoff implications until after the game],'' manager Terry Francona told Cervasio.
Still, Papelbon said the Red Sox were delighted at what they'd accomplished.
''We're ecstatic,'' he told Cervasio, ''and everyone in this clubhouse is as happy as can be right now.''
The Sox remain 2 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees in the A.L. East race and their magic number for clinching the division is six.
''Our mission is to finish in first place,'' Eric Gagne, Saturday night's winning pitcher, told Cervasio.
Posted by Art Martone 
at 11:01 PM | Permalink
irene desautel | September 23, 2007 1:18 PM link
go red sox