Tip Your Hats to Tampa

(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»

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»

(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»

(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»

(AP) - Unhittable most of the game, Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Boston Red Sox taught Tampa Bay all about dominant postseason pitching, the AP reports. Matsuzaka took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and the defending World Series champions played a little better in every way, beating the Rays 2-0 tonight in the opener of the AL championship series. More»