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AP
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Evan Longoria and Cliff Floyd failed to come through in key at-bats. Carl Crawford barely missed a sliding catch. James Shields was outpitched by Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Finally resembling the playoff newcomers they are, the young Rays fell just short several times Friday night during a 2-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox in the AL championship series opener.
Tampa Bay won its first division title this season with clutch hits and big defensive plays. Both were missing in Game 1 against Boston.
“We had some opportunities. We didn’t take advantage of them,” manager Joe Maddon said. “When you’re facing very good pitching at this time of year, they can stifle you even with nobody out.”
Held hitless through six innings, the Rays squandered three great scoring chances and let an important run score on a ball that deflected off Crawford’s glove in left field.
Tampa Bay had Matsuzaka on the ropes in the first, loading the bases with two outs on three walks. Floyd, an inspirational team leader, grounded out to end the threat.
“Tip your hat to them,” Floyd said. “You’re not always going to do what you want to do. You’d like to in these type of situations. For me, looking ahead for tomorrow, it doesn’t matter who’s pitching, they can make mistakes. If we capitalize, it’s OK.”
Trailing 1-0, the Rays had another chance for a big inning in the seventh after Crawford and Floyd singled to put runners at the corners. The sellout crowd of 35,001 at Tropicana Field was anticipating another late comeback, but Matsukaza shut the door. He retired Dioner Navarro on a shallow fly, struck out Gabe Gross and induced an inning-ending grounder from Jason Bartlett.
Boston went up 2-0 in the eighth when Crawford just missed a tough catch on Kevin Youkilis’ RBI double.
“We’ve lost games in the recent past where we’ve played well and lost,” Maddon said. “I’m good with that. Of course you want to win every game. We just didn’t swing the bats well tonight.”
In a move that surprised many, Boston manager Terry Francona opted to let Matsuzaka return for the eighth after his pitch count had already surpassed 100. It looked like a questionable decision when singles by Akinori Iwamura and B.J. Upton to open the inning ended Matsuzaka’s night.
Then, Boston’s bullpen took over.
Francona first turned to Hideki Okajima, who got Carlos Pena to fly out on a 3-0 pitch. Justin Masterson was next and the result was a rally-ending, double-play grounder by Longoria, an All-Star this season and the front-runner for AL Rookie of the Year.
“I think I’m stating the obvious when I say we have a lot of confidence in him,” Francona said about Masterson. “He’s earned that right for us to have a lot of confidence in him. That was a huge situation in the game, and he executed exactly like he was supposed to.”
It was a rare Tropicana Field failure for Tampa Bay, which had the majors’ top home record this year at 57-24. In fact, the Rays won eight of nine home games during the regular season against the Red Sox.
But the upstart Rays, who had never won more than 70 games in a season before this year’s unexpected ride to the playoffs, will need to find that spark at home in Game 2 on Saturday or they’ll face an uphill climb heading to Boston for Game 3 on Monday.
“We don’t like losing at home,” Floyd said. “We lose home-field advantage. The good thing is we’re not out of this.”
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
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