Rays 9 Red Sox 1

Well that didn't go the way the Red Sox planned. Their 'best starter' Jon Lester gave up 8 hits, 4 earned runs, walked 2 and struck out 7 in 5.2 innings. Paul Byrd in relief didn't do any better 3.1 innings and 4 earned. They each gave up 2 homers.

Matt Garza went 6 innings, gave up 6 hits, walked 3, struck out 5 and only gave up 1 run. I thought he could have gone longer, I was surprised when Maddon gave him the quick hook, but J.P. Howell and Edwin Jackson finished up with 3 shut out innings.

For the Rays Upton, Longoria, Baldelli and Pena went deep. Canadians and Jays in the Game: Gabe Gross went in as a defensive replacement in RF late in the game. Eric Hinske still didn't play, I wonder if he is hurt. Jason Bay went 1 for 3 with a walk for the Sox.

Rays of the Day: Garza (.159 WPA), Longoria (.120) and Upton (.098). No suckage Rays. No Red Sox of the Day. Suckage Sox Jon Lester (-.236).

The Rays are up 2 games to 1, which if you look at recent Red Sox post-season history might mean that the Sox have them just where they want them. But this year seems different, Boston's starters have been.....inconsistant I guess is the nice way to say it. Terrible might be more accurate. Tonight, Tim Wakefield goes up against Andy Sonnanstine for the Rays. Wakefield's knuckball better be dancing tonight.

Phillies 7 Dodgers 5

Former Jay and Canadian Matt Stairs plays the hero role, hitting a 2 run, pinch hit homer to put the Phillies ahead in the 8th. You have to feel good for the guy.

Other offensive stars: Chase Utley went 3 for 4, Victorino hit a 2 run homer to tie the game in the 8th and catcher Carlos Ruiz went 2 for 3 with a walk, talk about your surprise offensive stars, Ruiz hit .218 on the season but is .417 so far this series. The Phillies other former Jay, Jayson Werth played Rf and went 1 for 5.

Dodger offensive stars: Rafael Furcal went 1 for 2 with 2 walks and 2 runs in the lead off spot. Manny went 2 for 2 with 3 walks. Loney went 2 for 4, Casey Blake went 2 for 5 with a homer and Juan Pierre, making his first start in CF for the playoffs went 2 for 3. Canadian Russell Martin had a tough day batting behind Manny, 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts, driving home 1 but leaving 7 on base.

Pitching: Joe Blanton went 5 innings, gave up 7 hits, 4 walks but got out of trouble a bunch, only allowing 3 runs. Chad Durbin gave up 2 hits, a walk and a homer without getting an out to give the Dodgers the lead. But former Jay Scott Eyre, Ryan Madson, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge pitched the last 3.2 scoreless endings to give Stairs the chance to be the hero.

Derek Lowe went 5 innings on short rest, giving up 6 hits and 2 runs. After that, well Joe Torre got everyone into the game. Clayton Kershaw gave up a hit, a walk and a run in his third of an inning. Chan Ho Park got 1 out and walked 1. Joe Beimel got an out. Hong-Chih Kuo pitched an inning and gave up a run. Cory Wade got 2 outs but gave up Victorino's home run to tie the game and Jonathan Broxton pitched the final 1.1 innings giving up Stairs game winner.  

Phillies of the Day: Stairs (.418 WPA), Ryan Howard (.249), Victorino (.224) and Utley (.114). Suckage Phillies: Durbin (-.261), Blanton (-.179) and Pedro Feliz  (-.163). Dodgers of the Day: Manny (.278), Furcal (.250), Blake (.122) and Loney (.112). Suckage Dodgers Broxton (-.400), Wade (-.268), Kershaw (-.157), Blake Dewitt (-.189) Martin (-.131) and Andre Ethier (-.118).

The teams get a day off then tomorrow Cole Hamels starts for the Phillies against Chad Billingsley.

Reminder....it is election day in Canada....Vote Early, Vote Often.

Rays 9 Red Sox 8

Hey there is a former Jay in this series that I totally forgot about, Mike Timlin. Of course, Francona had forgotten about him too, at least until the 11th inning of last night's game. I'm not sure why he didn't go to Paul Byrd before Timlin, but having a couple of weeks didn't improve Timlin's control, he walked the first 2 batters then got an out on a hit and run moving the runners to second and third. An intentional walk then BJ pop fly that was just deep enough to score a speedy Fernando Perez and Timlin got a loss.

Timlin has a fond place in my heart for getting the last out in the Jay's first World Series win against the Braves but he really should have retired before this season. But then when you score 8 runs in a game you really ought to win before the 11th inning. Beckett had his second straight awful playoff start in row. He really doesn't look good, there must be some sort of injury that he's trying to pitch thru. He only pitched 4.1 and gave up 9 hits, 8 earned and 3 home runs. In between Beckett and Timlin there was 5.2 innings of shutout relief.

Scott Kazmir, for the Rays wasn't much better, lasting 4.1 as well, giving up 6 hits 5 earned and 3 homers of his own. The Rays bullpen weren't as good as the Sox' pen, they gave up 3 runs over the next 2.2 innings to allow the Sox to tied the game. Then Dan Wheeler came in and pitched 3.1 scoreless innings to get the games to extras.

So what did other former Jays and Canadians do in last night's game? Gabe Gross went 0 for 3. Kevin Cash got into the game to catch for an inning and Jason Bay was one of the offensive heroes of the game going 3 for 5 driving in 4.

Rays of the Day: Dan Wheeler (.346 WPA), Evan Longoria (.327), B.J.Upton (.234), Dave Price (.137) and J.P. Howell (.126). Suckage Rays were Kazir (-.332), Grant Balfour (-.210), Trever Miller (-.128). and Willy Aybar (-.099).

Red Sox of the Day: Dustin Pedroia (.473, with 2 homers), Jason Bay (.398), Papelbon (.201) and Okajima (.149). Suckage Sox Beckett (-.711!!), Timlin (-.363), Mark Kotsay (-.261), Ellsbury (-.254) and Youk (-.118).

Tonight's game has the old man Jamie Moyer (3.71, 16-7) starting for the Phillies against Hiroki Kuroda (3.73, 9-10).