Dice-K Muzzles Rays in ALCS Opener

Rays' talent rises to occasion, avoids epic collapse in beating Boston to seal Series trip

(NEWSER) - The improbable has happened. The Tampa Bay Rays have ousted the defending champion Red Sox. Sportswriters, start your fawning:

• The Rays won this thing with “talent, talent, talent,” which trumps experience every time, writes Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe. “The best team in the American League is going to the World Series.”
• Besides, the Rays played like grizzled veterans, writes George Vecsey of the New York Times, thanks to a “lineup full of heroes doing the big things and the small things.”

(NEWSER) - Red Sox nation is secretly grieving. Sure, the Sox pulled off one of the most incredible comebacks ever on Thursday, but precious few were actually watching. Many among the Fenway Faithful didn’t exactly live up to their name, the Boston Globe reports. “It was 7-0,” laments one fan who left the park early. “I feel this incredible guilt, like letting an old friend down.” More»

(NEWSER) - The worst-to-first Tampa Bay Rays completed a stunning run to their first World Series, holding off the defending champion Boston Red Sox, 3-1, last night behind Matt Garza's masterful pitching in Game 7 of the ALCS. "It's unbelievable," center fielder BJ Upton said. "We battled a lot of adversity this year. We stuck together as a team." More»

Fan unintentionally coins rallying cry for first Series berth since '93

(NEWSER) - When a delirious Phillies fan called in to a radio show after Philadelphia's NLCS win, he inadvertently coined the team's new rallying cry. "Boston did it. The White Sox did it. Why can't us?," he asked. While waiting to see which AL team they'll face, Phillies fans have joyously embraced the grammatically challenged slogan, Deadspin reports. More»

(AP) - B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria, and the rest of the Tampa Bay Rays are bashing their way through their first trip to the playoffs, the AP reports. Upton and Longoria homered off a suddenly shaky Jon Lester, and the power-packed Rays cleared the Green Monster four times to beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-1, today for a 2-1 lead in the AL championship series. More»