ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - What we learned after watching Saturday's Tampa Bay Rays defeat the Boston Red Sox 9-8 in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series to tie the series at one game apiece.

When it mattered most ...
... B.J. Upton fell behind in the count 0-2, but fouled off a tough pitch from Mike Timlin before lifting a shallow fly ball to right field that was enough to chase home speedy pinch-runner Fernando Perez.

Oops
In the top of the eighth, Rays catcher Dioner Navarro couldn't make a decent toss back to pitcher Dan Wheeler, and Dustin Pedroia scored the tying run with two outs. Wheeler's pitch sailed over Navarro's outstretched glove, but hit the backstop and bounced directly back to Navarro. He picked up the ball with plenty of time to get Pedroia out, but his underhanded toss bounced and was to the wrong side of the plate. Wheeler couldn't handle it, and Pedroia scored to tie the game 8-8. That's where it stayed for another six hours (or, at least it seemed).

Texas two-steppers
Texas natives Josh Beckett (Red Sox) and Scott Kazmir (Rays) were, shall we say, less than their best. Beckett's postseason ERA stands at 11.57 after Game 2; Kazmir's is 6.52. They both lasted just 4 1/3 innings. They both gave up three homers. They both threw 56 strikes on the night. They both have thrown much, much better almost every time out this season.

Video   Red Sox vs Rays: Postgame Rays manager Joe Maddon talks about 11th-inning thriller.

Big boppers
The Rays and Red Sox set an ALCS record by combining for seven homers -- on a fifth-inning home run by Boston's Jason Bay. So, what no game had produced in the history of the ALCS took less than five innings Saturday night. Yep, it was that kind of night at Tropicana Field.

• Numbers of note
  5:27: How long it took to finish this game.
• 1: The number of times, in his past nine starts (including the postseason) Kazmir has worked a 1-2-3 first inning. He needed 38 pitches to get out of the first Saturday night, despite retiring the first two batters of the inning.
• 1: The number of ground-ball outs, total, in the first three innings.
• 1: The number of times in his past 62 regular-season starts, that Beckett gave up as many home runs — three — as he did tonight.

On deck
The series moves to Fenway Park, a stadium with a bit more postseason history, for Monday's Game 3. Both teams have workouts set for Sunday. The Rays gave away home-field advantage this weekend, bringing up the possibility that the series won't make it back to Tropicana Field. Not that the Rays are worrying about anything other than Game 3.

"We were going to have to win one at Fenway; we knew that anyway," third baseman Evan Longoria said after the Game 1 loss. "You can't count just on winning the games at home."

Matt Garza takes the mound for the Rays on Monday; Jon Lester starts for the Red Sox.

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