In Tampa Bay, The Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 in game 4 of the American League Division Series to move on to the American League Championship Series. The Red Sox also won the series 3 games to 1. The Red Sox headed into the playoffs with the best record in the American League, while the Rays just barely made it through, as they won their final 3 games to reach the postseason.
In game 4, the Rays used 9 pitchers, setting the postseason record for pitchers during a game of only 9 innings. For the Red Sox, Jake Peavy started the game and he pitched 5 and 1/3 innings, giving up 1 run.
The Rays started out with a 1-0 lead, until the Red Sox piled up some runs on the Rays relief pitchers. Xander Bogaerts, a rookie for the Red Sox, pinch hit for Stephen Drew during the game and ended up scoring 2 of Boston's 3 runs. Jacoby Ellsbury, who is playing through a stress fracture in his foot, ended up having 9 hits through these 4 games. He played a crucial role in their success. As for the Rays, Yunel Escobar had a great performance in game 4, going 3 for 3 with a double and the Rays' only run. He was one of their only solid players during this game, which was surprising, considering that the Rays were 4-0 during their previous elimination games. I guess that they couldn't overcome Boston's firepower.
Goodall, Fred. Red Sox beat Rays 3-1 in Game 4 to reach ALCS.
2013. Photograph. Yahoo! Sports Web. 9 Oct 2013.
<http://sports.yahoo.com/news/red-sox-beat-rays-3-043429318--mlb.html>.
