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Rays will take on Red Sox
White Sox fall, 6-2
CHICAGO (AP) - The Tampa Bay Rays celebrated with great fervor and with good reason. They're headed to the AL championship series.
In a season of Ray-markable achievements, they added yet another to their list.
But, as first baseman Carlos Pena warned, you ain't seen nothing yet. After beating the Chicago White Sox in their first-ever postseason series to make the ALCS, the Rays are ready to keep rolling. They will open on Friday at home against Boston in Game 1.
Ready for some more champagne-spraying parties, this from a franchise that spent most of its first decade in last place.
“This is amazing,” Pena said after Monday's 6-2 victory over the White Sox clinched the opening series 3-1.
“We're not done yet, stick around, you might see something crazy go on. We know how to celebrate, I will tell you what. And that's what we're supposed to do,” he added.
“We made it a point to actually celebrate harder every single time. So today we must celebrate harder than the one before, so stick around.”
Worst in the majors last year, the Rays now need four wins to reach the World Series. Starting Friday, they will face either Boston or the Los Angeles Angels for the right to play in the World Series.
Talented B.J. Upton, benched this season for lack of hustle, homered twice Monday to back the solid pitching of Andy Sonnanstine as the Rays shut out the towel-waving, black clad crowd at U.S. Cellular Field and beat the White Sox to clinch on the road.
“It means everything. We've been at the bottom of the barrel for so long,” Upton said. “I think there was a point in time where people didn't even know who we were.”
They do now, for sure.
“Like Carlos said, we're kind of a fraternity. And we stick together at all times no matter what happens,” Upton said. “As long as we keep that attitude and continue playing as a team, and doing the little things to win, I don't think there's any reason why we can't win this whole thing.”
After staving off elimination several times and winning a tiebreaker for the AL Central title, the White Sox were finally knocked out.
The loss dashed Chicago's hope for a championship - days ago, local fans were thinking the Cubs and White Sox might meet in the Series for the first time since 1906.
But the Cubs got swept by the Dodgers and now both teams are done.
Upton, the game's second batter, homered to left-center to put the Rays ahead. He went deep again in the third, driving a full-count pitch from Gavin Floyd to center, and the confident Rays had a two-run cushion.
Tampa Bay, which never won more than 70 games during its 10 previous seasons, went from 96 losses last year to 97 wins.
Red Sox 3, Angels 2: The Boston Red Sox brushed aside the 100-win Angels in four games, dismissing their best-in-baseball regular season as last month's news.
When it turns to October, no one dominates like Boston.
Jason Bay slid headfirst into home plate to score on Jed Lowrie's two-out single in the ninth inning Monday night as the defending World Series champions beat Los Angeles 3-2 in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series and advanced to play for the AL pennant for the fourth time in six seasons.
The Red Sox, who also won it all in 2004, will have a chance at a third title in five years if they can get past the Rays in the best-of-seven AL championship series that starts at Tampa Bay on Friday night.
Jon Lester held the Angels to four hits in seven shutout innings but lost his chance at a second victory in the series when Los Angeles scored twice in the eighth to tie it 2-all. The Angels had a chance to go ahead in the ninth before Erick Aybar, whose 12th-inning single was the winner in Game 3, missed on a suicide squeeze attempt, thwarting the threat.
CHICAGO (AP) - The Tampa Bay Rays celebrated with great fervor and with good reason. They're headed to the AL championship series.
In a season of Ray-markable achievements, they added yet another to their list.
But, as first baseman Carlos Pena warned, you ain't seen nothing yet. After beating the Chicago White Sox in their first-ever postseason series to make the ALCS, the Rays are ready to keep rolling. They will open on Friday at home against Boston in Game 1.
Ready for some more champagne-spraying parties, this from a franchise that spent most of its first decade in last place.
“This is amazing,” Pena said after Monday's 6-2 victory over the White Sox clinched the opening series 3-1.
“We're not done yet, stick around, you might see something crazy go on. We know how to celebrate, I will tell you what. And that's what we're supposed to do,” he added.
“We made it a point to actually celebrate harder every single time. So today we must celebrate harder than the one before, so stick around.”
Worst in the majors last year, the Rays now need four wins to reach the World Series. Starting Friday, they will face either Boston or the Los Angeles Angels for the right to play in the World Series.
Talented B.J. Upton, benched this season for lack of hustle, homered twice Monday to back the solid pitching of Andy Sonnanstine as the Rays shut out the towel-waving, black clad crowd at U.S. Cellular Field and beat the White Sox to clinch on the road.
“It means everything. We've been at the bottom of the barrel for so long,” Upton said. “I think there was a point in time where people didn't even know who we were.”
They do now, for sure.
“Like Carlos said, we're kind of a fraternity. And we stick together at all times no matter what happens,” Upton said. “As long as we keep that attitude and continue playing as a team, and doing the little things to win, I don't think there's any reason why we can't win this whole thing.”
After staving off elimination several times and winning a tiebreaker for the AL Central title, the White Sox were finally knocked out.
The loss dashed Chicago's hope for a championship - days ago, local fans were thinking the Cubs and White Sox might meet in the Series for the first time since 1906.
But the Cubs got swept by the Dodgers and now both teams are done.
Upton, the game's second batter, homered to left-center to put the Rays ahead. He went deep again in the third, driving a full-count pitch from Gavin Floyd to center, and the confident Rays had a two-run cushion.
Tampa Bay, which never won more than 70 games during its 10 previous seasons, went from 96 losses last year to 97 wins.
Red Sox 3, Angels 2: The Boston Red Sox brushed aside the 100-win Angels in four games, dismissing their best-in-baseball regular season as last month's news.
When it turns to October, no one dominates like Boston.
Jason Bay slid headfirst into home plate to score on Jed Lowrie's two-out single in the ninth inning Monday night as the defending World Series champions beat Los Angeles 3-2 in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series and advanced to play for the AL pennant for the fourth time in six seasons.
The Red Sox, who also won it all in 2004, will have a chance at a third title in five years if they can get past the Rays in the best-of-seven AL championship series that starts at Tampa Bay on Friday night.
Jon Lester held the Angels to four hits in seven shutout innings but lost his chance at a second victory in the series when Los Angeles scored twice in the eighth to tie it 2-all. The Angels had a chance to go ahead in the ninth before Erick Aybar, whose 12th-inning single was the winner in Game 3, missed on a suicide squeeze attempt, thwarting the threat.
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