Joey Johnston

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - We already know the Boston Red Sox are capable of coming back from the brink of elimination. We already know the Red Sox can win a Game 7. They are the kings of this precarious situation.

Entering Sunday night’s winner-takes-all finale of the American League championship series, only one question remains.

Can the Tampa Bay Rays pull this off?

Can they?

There were question marks all around Tropicana Field, which transformed from a madhouse to a mausoleum, following the Red Sox’s rock-solid 4-2 victory against the Rays in Saturday night’s Game 6.

After a remarkable season — in which the Rays transformed from 66-win frogs to 97-win princes of the AL East, in which they went from the worst team in baseball to a near-clean getaway within seven outs of the World Series — it's down to one game.

One game.

Nine more innings.

One last chance.

If the Rays fall short again, they will be remembered as a neat story. It will be, oh well, couldn’t defeat the defending World Series champions when it really mattered.

If the Rays topple the Red Sox — then take down the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series — they will be remembered forever.

And — ya gotta believe — they can stand next to the 1969 Mets in baseball immortality.

With the Rays wobbling — after a season in which they fought off every measure of adversity — manager Joe Maddon hasn't changed his stance.

"We're going to go out and play our game," Maddon said. "That's basically how I'm going to look at it."

But ...

What about the last few days?

What about the Rays bashing the ball all around Fenway Park, making a mockery out of the Red Sox's pitching staff through most of the three middle games, leading 7-0 in the seventh inning of Game 5, just seven outs from a date with the Phillies, before authoring the second-worst collapse in postseason history?

What about the no-show offensive performance (four hits, two solo homers, only one other hitter to reach second base) at the Trop on Saturday night?

What about all of that?

Joe?

Maddon characterized the residual affect of Game 5 as "tremendous hyperbole" and otherwise posed as Alfred E. Newman.

What, me worry?

"That happened a couple of days ago," Maddon said. "That has nothing to do with (Sunday night). It's all about how we react to the moment and it's a seventh game. It's a great learning experience.

"For us to win that game would be something special for us, also. So it's not about looking into the past. It's about looking into the future right now."

The future is Rays right-hander Matt Garza, who was superb in shutting down the Red Sox (six innings, one earned run) in Game 3.

The future is also Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester, who was blasted in Game 3 (four earned runs in 6 2/3 innings). But here is Lester’s regular-season record against the Rays — 3-0 with a 0.90 earned-run average in three starts.

"It's probably appropriate that it comes down to the last game," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Now it's whoever plays harder, whoever wants it more."

It's hard to argue against the Red Sox now.

That's nine straight victories in ALCS elimination games — nine straight! — for Boston. That dates back to 2004, when the Red Sox rallied from a 3-0 deficit to put a historical hurting on the New York Yankees. It covers 2007, when the Red Sox trailed the Cleveland Indians 3-1, but won the final three games.

And it covers this series, when the Red Sox charged back from 7-0 down in Game 5 to win 8-7 with a riveting final three innings.

The crushing blow for the Rays on Saturday night was a solo homer by Jason Varitek, breaking a 2-2 tie. Varitek, the Red Sox captain, had been 0-for-15 in the ALCS and was batting .132 (9-for-68) overall against the Rays this season.

"He wears a 'C' on that jersey for a lot of different reasons," Red Sox starter Josh Beckett said.

"We're still here," Varitek said. "We're still playing baseball. That's what matters most."

Beckett turned in a solid five innings. Then it was left for the Boston bullpen, which was fabulous (four innings, no hits, just two baserunners).

"We just couldn’t get any hits," Maddon said. "We just did not get the offensive performance tonight that we had been getting."

Special feature Breaking down Phillies vs. Rays Position-by-position comparisons, pitching matchups, prediction, more

Massive understatement.

At Fenway, with B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena bashing the ball, the Rays looked near-unstoppable. The Fenway crowds were clearing out early. Tampa Bay was playing pepper with the Green Monster.

With all that talent, with all that youth, some were even wondering, well, how could the Red Sox and Yankees hope to keep up with this Tampa Bay team in the seasons to come?

That thought, to use Maddon's words, was probably "tremendous hyperbole."

Now it's down to one game.

Slideshow Fall classics NBCSports.com takes a photographic look at the 2008 MLB playoffs.

One last chance.

One more opportunity to show the world that the Rays are more than a nice little story — and a team that could be remembered forever.

We know the Red Sox are built to win a Game 7. That's not even a question.

The Rays were once a mortal lock. They were in control.

Now the questions are all about them.

And they have nine innings to find an answer.

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