So, it's time for another World Series game, and it looks like this one will start on time tonight. Andy Sonnanstine is starting for the Rays; Joe Blanton will take the hill for the Phillies. I'm taking the Rays to even it up at 2 a piece tonight.

"The Day The Earth Stood Still" looks awful based on that sole promo.

Far be it for me to hate on Patti LaBelle, but could she get the words to the national anthem right? It's "twilight", not "skylight", and it's "perilous fight," not "flight."

Now it's over, and that was bad. Not Roseanne bad -- at least Patti was on pitch, but the Star-Spangled Banner does not need that much melisma. As some of you have suggested, more of you aspiring anthem singers ought to take Whitney Houston's take in mind.



That's the way to do it. Or, if you want to reinvent it, go the Marvin Gaye route:



Much, much better.

Top 1st Inning

Aki Iwamura, after taking a few pitches and fouling off a few more, flies out deep to left.

Bossman Junior fouls the first pitch from Joe Blanton back. He takes another strike and then Blanton gets him looking on a pitch right down the middle.

Carlos Pena pops up the first pitch behind the plate to Carlos Ruiz, and we're done. Fox cuts Joe Buck off, mercifully.

Bottom 1st Inning

So Harry Kalas does the Phillies lineups, his son Todd did the Rays for the top of the inning. What a voice, Harry Kalas.

"If I had that voice, I'd just sit around all day and talk to myself." - Joe

Man, I think that's the first time Joe and I agree on anything.

Jimmy Rollins takes Andy Sonnanstine's first two pitches for balls, then a strike. He smokes a 3-1 pitch down the right field line, and he's at second to start it off.

Ah, there's my hero, the reason I got into broadcasting...Harry the K. I think he's had at least a six pack today. In other words, a light drinking day for the Voice of the Phillies. - Jim Williams

That voice is as smooth as a good single-malt scotch.

Sonnanstine is down 3-0 to Jayson Werth. The Phillies right-fielder hits one to right, where Ben Zobrist catches it and Rollins tags and makes it to third easily. He then proceeds to go 3-0 to Chase Utley, which is a BAD IDEA -- and we have ourselves a four pitch walk, runners at the corners with Ryan Howard on his way to the plate.

Howard takes strike one a little inside, while I'm wondering why hitters who get the shift don't hit it to left, almost ever -- and a dribbler to the mound, which Sonnanstine throws to third to get Jimmy Rollins in a rundown when the double play would end the inning. But they should have had Rollins, because Longoria tapped him on the butt for the out and the ump totally missed it.

Bases loaded, one out, Pat Burrell up. Sonnanstine digs a 2-0 hole. Breaking ball just misses for a 3-0 count. Strike one with a high fastball. Burrell takes ball four and Rollins comes home, 1-0 Phillies. Not the most auspicious of beginnings for Tampa.

Shane Victorino takes strike one, then knocks one in front of the pitcher that he flips for the force at home. 2 outs.

When did Tim Welke get traded for Ed Hochuli? - 49er16

Good question. Pedro Feliz is up with a strike and a better question is why he's playing when Greg Dobbs is hitting the cover off the ball. Feliz flies out to end the inning.

As for the ump missing the call, it's a classic case of the man in blue not being an ass man. - Jim Williams

OK, that's a +1 too.

Top 2nd Inning

Evan Longoria has two strikes on him after taking one and fouling another Blanton pitch. Ball one is up and away. The Desperate Infielder goes down swinging on a sinker.

Timmeh can't get over Sonnanstine not going to second last inning. Carl Crawford is the next victim, as he gets him on another slider low and in to whiff.

Blanton looks like he'd be a truck driver if he wasn't pitching. Fastball over for strike one to Dioner Navarro. Bunt fouled for strike two, and why? Navarro is not as slow as molasses, but close. Ball one out of the zone, ball two is high and inside. Ball three is borderline, and Navarro takes the high pitch to right field for a single.

Ben Zobrist pops the first pitch up, and Victorino calls off Utley to snag it for the third out.

I hate these Bud Light "drinkability" ads. I think I might have mentioned that yesterday. All "drinkability" means is that it tastes like water with grain in it. There's nothing interesting about the taste of Bud Light, but if you wanna get ripped, chug a half dozen to start and see how it goes.

It looks like the strike zone is the exact opposite of last night/early this morning. - JFein

Christie Brinkley, still gorgeous at 54 in those DirecTV ads. She went through a divorce recently -- her rich ex was cheating on her with an 18-year old chick and had an extensive porn collection. I can only chalk this up to "some people don't know how good they got it."

Bottom 2nd Inning

Carlos Ruiz flies out to the warning track in right, where Zobrist tracks it down.

Blanton's got a 1-2 count on him after taking two pitches and fouling off another. Goes down swinging on a high fastball.

J-Roll's up again, takes strike one down the middle. Ball one, a bit low. Timmeh calls him "an eye-opener," as if we know what that means other than it's a reference to him being the lead-off hitter or spark-plug of the team. In other words, Cliche 101. Rollins smacks a single that lands in front of Zobrist.

Werth has a 1-1 count now, then flies to right to end it.

Jim Williams brings up an important point: the redhead in the tailgate Drinkability ad is cute, but my verdict says: not enough to offset the inanity of the ad campaign. As usual, beer companies think you're a moron when they advertise on sports telecasts.

Top 3rd Inning

Blanton's on a roll. A ball followed by 3 straight strikes to get Jason Bartlett to sit down.

Sonnanstine takes the first two pitches, is at 1-1. Ball 2 in the dirt. Sonnanstine smacks a single into left, taking a decent Blanton pitch the other way.

Iwamura takes a low fastball for a strike. He bunts the next pitch foul for strike 2. Ball 1 high, as is ball 2. He hits a chopper to force out Sonnanstine at 2nd.

B.J. Upton went down on three straight pitches last time, think he can do better this time? He grounds to Rollins, who forces Iwamura out at 2nd, but I gotta say, I think they rush those force calls way too often. It looks like Utley came off the base a little, but EVERYONE does that anyway because the umps never call it.

Bottom 3rd Inning

Chase Utley takes ball one and two high. Sonnanstine threw a strike, and then another ball to make it 3-1.

"There are different forms of wildness, and throwing a 3-1 count to a home run hitter in a small park is one of them." - Timmeh

Full count. Iwamura bobbles a bad hop off his glove, and that's the 10th error for the Rays this post-season. Again, why is the shift on for Utley with nobody out? He can hit it the other way and has done so.

Howard takes the first pitch down the line and smokes it towards Zobrist. Utley moves over to third on the single. Runners on the corners, no outs. Burrell takes ball one outside. It's gone up to 3-1 after another ball way inside.

In comments, John informs us that Grand Rapids has lost the feed. Fun!

Burrell takes strike two to make it full, then gets the worst of all possible options that aren't striking out: a pop fly to short. One out. and an easy double victim at first in Howard. However, Victorino is up. Maddon visits the mound quickly.

Sonnanstine gets strike 1 outside. Up and away to even it up. Victorino fouls it off for strike 2. He pops out too, again to Bartlett.

Feliz waves at strike 1 in the dirt. Barely inside for ball 1. Feliz comes through with a single to left, and Utley scores to give the Phils a 2-0 lead.

Why couldn't Feliz ever do that for the Giants? - 49er16

I was gonna crack that joke, but I figured I'd check the comments first.

"The second one, a backup slider, begging to be hit hard." - Timmeh

Ruiz takes the first two pitches for balls. He then grounds up the middle, and Iwamura keeps it on the infield, but no play. That's OK, make Blanton help himself. Blanton pops out to Pena, but they get that hit in scoring position.

If you had "Gonna Fly Now" after the bottom of the 3rd in your office pool, you are a winner. Seriously, Bill Conti better be getting major residuals for his work being played so often. - Jim Williams

Jim Carrey Movie Formula = One part flimsy plot device + two parts wacky faces + a pinch of raunchy scatological humor. I don't think Yes Man will move away from that too much.

Top 4th

Carlos Pena takes strike 1.

"Blanton is the type of pitcher that Pena and Longoria can break out of their streaks of because he's standardized. He's not left handed and he doesn't have the stuff that Brett Myers has." - Timmeh

Down goes Pena, swinging at another sinker for Blanton's 5th K.

Longoria grounds to Jimmy Rollins, who throws him out at first. I'm not sure that's the way he wanted to get the bat on the ball, Chris Myers.

Crawford takes the first pitch for a ball. Blanton throws two straight strikes, then Crawford cranks one out to right field and GONE, now it's 2-1, Phillies. These are the effects of a band box like Citizens Bank Park -- that's a long fly ball in a few parks.

Navarro grounds out to Rollins, and the inning's over.

Those Burger King ads for the Mushroom and Swiss Steakhouse Burger are just as annoying as the Saved by Zero ad now.

Bottom 4th

As you have no doubt noticed, it's the Rocky theme when the Phils score and Tom Petty when the Rays do.

Rollins grounds through the right side under Iwamura's glove, he's on base for the third time after Iwamura's 2nd error.

Man, it's really awkward hearing Ken Rosenthal's reports from the first base camera deck. The guy comes off like he's a recent graduate of the William Shatner School of Pause Speaking. - Jim Williams

Werth takes a walk after four pitches. Edwin Jackson and Trever Miler are getting up in the Rays bullpen.

"I don't think you can say [the layoff] has affected his effectiveness, but you can say it's affected his control." - Timmeh

Well, if it affects his control, it make shim less effective, doesn't it, Tim? Sonnanstine responds by striking out Chase Utley swinging on three pitches.

Howard's at 2-1 after Navarro guns it to take a shot at Rollins at second. Howard gets all of it and takes it the opposite way, 5-1, Phillies.

I think Sonnanstine's night is done.

Well, they let him get Burrell out, and they're going to have him finish the inning, I suppose. Victorino up, pops it out of play -- and Sonnanstine stays because the bottom of the Rays order is due up anyway come the top of the 5th. Victorino pops out to Evan Longoria at third, and that will be the last we see of Andy.

Hey Fox: STOP PLAYING "GONNA FLY NOW", OKAY? It got old realy quick.

Ratings note: Sports Media Watch reports last night's delayed game got a 6.1 rating, a record low, obviously influenced by the 10 PM Eastern start.

Top 5th

Another asinine ad: the one for Jack in the Box's pita snacks with two grown men acting like babies.

Ben Zobrist takes a 2-2 count, and Victorino yells off Burrell to make the fly ball catch. Is he miked or is he just that loud? I'd vote latter.

Bartlett knocks it off Blanton's leg, and then Feliz makes a nice barehanded throw to first to get the runner.

Eric Hinske will pinch-hit for Sonnanstine, and it looks like we'll see Edwin Jackson in the bottom of the frame. Hinske jacks it to center field, and it goes out, 5-2 Phillies. Not bad for your first playoff at-bat.

"I think Joe Maddon pulled the right string right there." - Joe
"I should say so!" - Tim

Iwamura grounds it to Blanton, toss to first, frame over.

"If the Rays lose tonight, they will not, I mean they will, they will face elimination tomorrow night" - Tim McCarver completely forgetting the situation of the series. (via JFein)

Bottom 5th

Edwin Jackson gets Pedro Feliz to pop-foul out on the first pitch. The home umpire is yelling at the Tampa dugout. "IF I HEAR ANY MORE CRAP FROM YOU YOU'RE GONNA GO!" Maddon goes out there to make a peace offering.

Ruiz grounds out to Longoria, who guns it over to Pena.

OK, you know it's the Phillies' night when Joe Blanton goes yard to left. 6-2.

I'm not gonna say it's over tonight, but if the starting pitcher's gonna jack it, your line-up is feeling it. Rollins grounds out to Iwamura to end the inning.

Goddamnit, stop with the fucking Rocky music.

"He's doing it with his arm. He's doing it with his bat." - Joe Buck not realizing what he just said. - JFein

Top 6th

Upton's at a 2-2 count. He flies out to right field, Werth's got it easy.

And Buck says the Flyin' Hawaiian is wearing a mike. No wonder. 1-2 to Carlos Pena. He keeps fouling pitches off, eventually taking a walk instead of waving at a pitch out of the strike zone.

Longoria is caught looking at a fastball right down the middle on a 1-2 count.

Crawford swings and misses for strike one. He then gets plunked on the ankle.

"Now with Dioner Navarro up, with one swing of the bat, the Rays could be right back in this." - Joe

Navarro ain't exactly a home run threat, guys, but this is Citizens Bank Park. Obviously, Blanton has wiped enough sweat on his brim to the point where it's obvious to see. Ball 1 is in the dirt. Strike one, way outside on that corner. Curve floats for a ball. Another breaking ball on the outside corner for a strike. Navarro chases and misses the high fastball for Blanton's 7th K, and the truck cuts off Buck early again.

"This month's Gillette Rookie of the Month, for June..." - Joe Buck

Get that man a calendar and a shot of talent, stat! - Jim Williams

Oof.

If you're buying a cheesesteak from Subway, kill yourself now.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm almost positive when Buck said there was a "Let's Go Joe" chant, the crowd was saying "Tam-pa Sucks." - Bazooka Jones

Bottom 6th

Werth up, 1-1 count now. He knocks that one far and off the wall for a lead-off double.

"The Who has been together as long as Jamie Moyer has been alive." - Joe Buck

Utley strikes out swinging, here comes Howard, and they'll intentionally walk him to pitch to Burrell -- and they're talking about Jamie Moyer having a major case of the shits last night. Burrell complies by grounding into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Here's that full Rosenthal column on Moyer's stomach bug, if you'd like to spoil any appetite for a late snack.

Top 7th

Blanton gives up a lead-off walk to Ben Zobrist, and we get shots of Chris Myers being driver over from the Linc to the Citizens by the Phillie Phanatic -- and the producer gets a shaivng cream pie in the face.

Joe Blanton's night is done.

Chad Durbin is in. Bartlett flies out to Victorino. Willy Aybar pinch hits for Edwin Jackson, takes a strike. Aybar lines one into right center, drops for a single and it's first and second. Scott Eyre comes up to pitch to Iwamura.

"Here's the 1-0....strike 1." - Joe
"Two-strike breaking balls from Eyre to Iwamura." - Tim

Uh, Timmy, check the count, please, which is now 3-1. Iwamura flies out to Bruntlett, who's subbing for Burrell in left. Charlie Manuel goes for Ryan Madson to face B.J. Upton.

Strike one to Upton, 1-1 count....we eventually get to a full count, of course, and Madsen gets Upton swinging with a 3-2 change-up that most definitely would have been called for a strike if he hadn't swung.

Honestly, guys? It's been seven years after it started. Do we still need to do "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch. At least this guy sings it better than the woman who was a half step flat last night.

God Bless that it wasn't Patti LeBelle singing it. - Rob in WI

Bottom 7th

Dan Wheeler in to pitch to Shane Victorino, and he flies out to right. Zobrist makes a nice catch, sliding a little to bring it in.

Pedro Feliz grounds to third, and Longoria boots it after sliding to his left. Wheeler paints strike one to Ruiz on the outside corner.

VERY NICE PLAY BY IWAMURA. Ruiz hits a rocket to to second, which Iwamura spears and throws to first to double off Feliz.

Guhhhhhh....working in an American Idol promo into the World Series. I can't wait to ignore another season of Idol until really late, when all of my co-workers are talking about it and I watch just to see what kind of crap passes for singing talent.

Top 8th

Pena is down 1-2 against Madsen, looks at ball 2, then goes down on strikes again. He's still hitless in the World Series.

Longoria hits one hard foul for strike one. Fouled off the fists for strike 2, and he goes down swinging too. 0-29 for Pena and Longoria combined in the Series so far.

Crawford takes strike one on the outside corner, then grounds to Utley and Howard scoops up the throw.

Methinks Eva Longoria would stand a better chance at the plate than Evan Longoria. - Jim Williams

I think Role Models will actually be funny. I base this on the Paul Rudd Rule. Most movies I've seen with Paul Rudd have been funny in the same, kinda juvenile way. (Notable exception: The Object of My Affection. I don't know why I saw that, but it sucked even for a rom-com of sorts.)

Bottom 8th

Matt Stairs hits for Madsen against Wheeler, and strikes out after tagging one just foul that would have been good for a double, but we did get a highlight of his NLCS homer.

Rollins knocks one off the wall, and heads into second with his third hit of the night.

Jayson Werth adds on more pain by hitting a 2-run job out to left center. 8-2, Phillies.

Question: do the Phillies need to bring in Brad Lidge in the 9th? Really?

Trever Miller comes in to pitch to Utley and Howard. Utley takes a four pitch walk.

Lord have mercy, Ryan Howard got all of that. 10-2.

That's gonna come down with ice on it. Bruntlett grounds out for out #2. Victorino flies out to center for out #3.

STOP WITH THE FUCKING ROCKY THEME. JUST. STOP.

That ball made it all the way to Scranton. Yes. That ball was Schruted. - Rob in WI
get the extra cops ready and start those parade plans out, Mayor Nutter. - James Craven
To use a popular line around here: DAGGER! - Jim Williams
Stop with the Rocky crap already. Its getting annoying as the USC fight song - Anon

J.C. Romero to finish, Cole Hamels to start tomorrow. Tampa, meet the rock and the hard place.

Top 9th

Romero starts off with Navarro. He grounds it back to Romero, who makes a bad throw to Howard at first, but if there's a first baseman who can't really save you on a bad throw, it's Howard. Not great defensively. Error rightfully goes to the pitcher, though.

Ball one inside to Zobrist, Utley short hops a grounder and only gets the force on Navarro at second. Bartlett takes ball 1 up. He quickly gets two strikes into the count, one off a foul ball. Down and away for ball 2, gets him for the strikeout on the next pitch.

Rocco Baldelli comes up, pinch-hitting for Miller. Outside for ball 1. Romero comes back with two quick strikes. Ball 2 low and away. Fouls off the next one. Romero gets him swinging at high heat, and the Phillies take Game 4, 10-2, with a 3-1 lead heading into Game Five tomorrow. The Rays are officially up against the wall, and Philly fans are going ape-shit in anticipation.

Thanks for hanging around, folks. Joe Blanton has a flat-top fade straight out of the early 90s. Beautiful.

"Forget Joe the Plumber, it's Joe the Pitcher...or Joe the Hitter!" - Chris Myers

Fuck you, Chris. We almost made it without that dumb, obvious joke on air. Asshat.

Back and forth thing going on in Philly last night after they got the tarp up at about 10 PM Eastern, wasn't it? The Phillies built up a 4-1 lead on homers by Carlos Ruiz in the 2nd and Chase Utley and Ryan Howard going back to back in the sixth. In between, the wind denied Evan Longoria a two-run shot in the top of the sixth off Jamie Moyer, the Pennsylvania native, who got the breaks and threw well for his six and a third of work -- and made every announcer joke about possible relation to Gene Simmons after that long fly ball by Longoria.

The seventh and eighth innings got weird.

Carl Crawford bunted his way on in the top of the 7th, followed by a double by catcher Dioner Navarro. Gabe Gross grounded in Crawford, and Jason Bartlett grounded in Navarro to get within one run. The eighth gave us the Bossman Junior Show, as B.J. Upton hustled out an infield hit against Ryan Madsen and then proceeded to steal second and third with amazing jumps. Carlos Ruiz threw past third baseman Pedro Feliz, allowing Upton to score and tying the game.

J.P. Howell came in with Jayson Werth on in the bottom of the eighth with nobody out. Werth stole second with Chase Utley up, but Howell pulled the string on him and got him to whiff. Howell caught Werth leaning towards third and picked him off, then got Ryan Howard looking.

J.C. Romero held the Rays off in the 9th, and in the bottom of the inning, Howell hit Eric Bruntlett with a pitch. Grant Balfour came on, and threw a wild pitch past a bunting Shane Victorino. Bruntlett ran for second, and then headed to third when Navarro's throw went into the outfield.

Joe Maddon then got Ben Zobrist in from right field and played five infielders, walking Victorino and pinch hitter Greg Dobbs to pitch to Ruiz. Ruiz hit a dirty little chopper up the third base line, and Brunlett scored with no one out to finish this one just before 2 AM Eastern....

Wild stuff. Game 4 is tonight in the 8:30 range, and since there's no NFL game this weekend, there will be a live-blog.

That is, if they ever take the tarp off. Weather is a concern for Game Three tonight, hopefully, they're able to play through.

If such is the case, please leave your comments and hate for Joe Buck and Tim McCarver here. There is the little matter of Alabama vs. Tennessee and Penn State vs. OSU to deal with for me.

Hidy folks. I'll be better tonight, and we're all set for the do-or-die game. Who gets to host the Phillies on Wednesday? I'd say most of you armchair analysts are going for the Red Sox, given the events of the last couple games. First off, let's thank Ian from Sox and Dawgs for passing along Dennis Eckersley taking it on the chin from Ernie Johnson last night:

AA passes along the statement from TBS, explaining last night's outage:

STATEMENT FROM TBS REGARDING ALCS GAME 6

Two circuit breakers in our Atlanta transmission operations tripped causing the master router and its backup – which are necessary to transmit any incoming feed outbound – to shut down. This impacted our live feed from being distributed to any of the other networks in the Turner portfolio and caused the delay in our coverage. Both our primary and backup routers were impacted by this problem. We apologize to baseball fans for this mishap that caused a delay in our coverage.

It's a valid explanation, but not one that inspires any confidence in Turner Networks in general. But at least we're starting on time tonight!

Craig Sager looks rather subdued for him. Outlandish jacket and tie choice, but not horrific like his sea foam green and yellow tie with pink flowers from a couple weeks back.

Matt Garza is pitching for the Rays; he faces Coco Crisp first. Crisp lays down the bunt towards Garza, and he throws to Carlos Pena for the out. Dustin Pedroia waves at a 95 mph fastball for strike one. 2nd pitch is high. Third pitch is BELTED to left field for a homer, Sox take a 1-0 lead.

Gee, that was quick. Ortiz up and he's now dealing with a 2-1 count. Garza works in a fastball for strike 2, and the cowbells are LOUD tonight. Full count after one misses away, and it's ball 4. Ortiz on first with Kevin Youkilis coming up. Youk's feet are so damn close together when he bats, he looks like a gimp. First pitch is a brush back, 1-0. Next one gets fouled back, as does the one after that. Rocco Baldelli makes a nice play in right with the ball going towards the line, and Ortiz gets back to first. Two out. J.D. Drew up.

Matt Garza looks like John Turturro in the Big Lebowski. "Nobody fucks with the Jesus!" Jesus Quintana rolls a nice slider and it's 1-2, he gets Drew on a check-swing, and Navarro throws him out at first after dropping the ball.

Soul Men looks horrifically bad. This is not the last role we should be seeing Bernie Mac in, dammit.

"Garza allows the Pedroia homer but that is all in the first" - Chip Caray, who appearently forgot about the walk to Ortiz (via JFein)

Bottom 1st

Jon Lester starts with a strike to Akinori Iwamura. Quickly 0-2 with a breaking ball. Ron Darling just corrected himself after saying Lester pitched game 7 of the World Series last year, which of course, only went four games. Iwamura grounds out to Pedroia. Bossman Junior is up and takes a ball to start. Lester gets one over and Upton is knocking fouls back. 2-2, now 3-2 after a high fastball. Upton rockets a pitch to right, but right at Drew.

Carlos Pena whiffs at strike one, followed by ball one in the dirt. Pena chases strike two low.

"It's got a lot more finish on it." - Buck Martinez, on Lester's pitches. 2-2 count after a ball outside. Lester looks like a babyfaced assassin, and he gets Pena to go down swinging on another breaking ball.

Top 2nd inning

Jason Bay fouls off the first pitch from the Jesus. They replay Darrell Cousins' injury from last night, and that still looks like it hurt like a mofo. It's 2-2 to Bay now. "He's taken the earplugs out," says Buck, and Bay learns that this creep can hurl, man. Garza gets him on a check-swing.

Mark Kotsay takes strike one, knocks strike two up the middle and is robbed of a single by Jason Bartlett, who goes far to his left, crosses second, and throws Kotsay out.

Varitek's up. First ball's low, Tek fouls the next one, and the one after that. 1-2. Couple balls from the Jesus and we got a full count.

"If you want to end a conversation with Jason Varitek, talk about his impending free agency." - Buck. Tek fouls another ball on the full count. Dirty, nasty, filthy breaking ball gets Tek looking. Nice pitch, Jesus.

"He affects the game defensefully." - Ron Darling, channeling his inner Emmitt.

Bottom 2nd Inning

The Volcano Taco still looks foul weeks later. I've not tried one and plan not to.

Evan Longoria up, takes a ball, takes two others, and gets nailed with a strike that really wasn't. Longoria grounds in the hole to Alex Cora, who gets him by four steps.

Carl Crawford comes up to M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes." Still like that song even though it's been everywhere now. 1-1 count, then strike two, and a high fastball gets Crawford swinging.

Willy Aybar is DH'ing tonight, and takes a strike. Next breaker is low from Lester. Aybar smacks an easy grounder to Youkilis, slugs it to Kotsay. Six up, six down.

Top 3rd Inning

Frank Caliendo pushing Dish TV is just as annoying as Frank TV ads. The Jesus faces Alex Cora to start the 3rd. The shortstop flies out to Carl Crawford in left.

Crisp comes in for his second at-bat. He fouls off strike one, and this gives Chip Caray room to work in stuff about him replacing Jacoby Ellsbury. Garza buzzes him to make it a 2-2 count.

"If you're gonna buzz somebody, you better check his background. Coco's father was a profesional boxer in Los Angeles." - Buck

Crisp fouls another one back, and chops another foul at the plate. "He's tracking the ball very well right now," says Buck, and now I think Buck is talking too much already. The Jesus gets Covelli for his fourth strikeout on a curve. 2 down.

Garza gets Pedroia for strike one, and swinging for an 0-2 count. Stays alive by fouling it off.

That doesn't make him any good. Chip Carey's father was a professional broadcaster. - Rick James Bible Owner, referring to Buck's statement about Crisp's boxing background.

Pedroia gets popped hard and takes his base. Ortiz comes to the plate, takes strike one, leans back as the next pitch is high and inside. A very low strike 2, and Ortiz didn't much care for that call. Pedroia steals second on the next pitch without a throw, but Garza gets Ortiz for strikeout #5 with a high fastball.

Bottom 3rd Inning

"Pedroia is a guy that can hit anybody's fastball. It doesn't matter how hard it is, where it is..." - Buck Martinez (via JFein)

Even if it's 10 feet outside the zone, he'll get a bat on it somehow. He's just that clutch.

I hate those Bud Light drinkability ads. Of course it's easy to drink, because there's no weight to it. Whether it tastes good is another matter.

Dioner Navarro takes strike one, then takes a ball way inside. Lester lost control of that last one; it was really high, over his head. Inside strike, 2-2, Rocco's not swung the bat yet. Next one's fouled out of play behind the plate. Full count after a backdoor curveball, which Lester wanted badly. Navarro whiffs for Lester's third K of the night.

Rocco Baldelli's up, and down 1-2 quickly. Lester gets him looking for the fourth K, and he's got the first eight down.

"When you're catching a guy like this, you feel like a catching genius. I can call any pitch I want." - Buck.

Jason Bartlett pops up to Pedroia, and Lester's gone through the line-up once in order.

"If Lester is going to settle in, this is where he normally does so" - Chip Caray (via JFein, who's right to wonder if he isn't settled in already)

Top 4th Inning

What's with the off-center behind the pitcher camera angle? Hard to tell balls and strikes. - Mal

This is a frequent thing with TV shots behind the pitching mound, it's just more pronounced with lefties and more so with TBS' shot. It is really confusing, though. Anon does have an explanation for us: "I remember watching games on YES and ESPN, same place. The Trop is a circus tent, not ideal for camera placements."

Youkilis stands in, and is quickly down 0-2.

"He's carrying more than a chip on his shoulder, he's carrying his whole team." - Buck. Youk hits one down the line to Longoria, who throws it and is saved as Pena scoops it out of the dirt for the out.

Drew drills a high pop up to Pena for out #2.

"Garza learned you can't throw angry pitches." - Chip

If he can strike out a few more batters he'll be in his happy place. He's got Jason Bay on a 1-2 count now -- and he gets Bay again.

"They've got plenty of cowbell, now they need some runs!" - Chip, after Garza's sixth K.

Bottom 4th Inning

Iwamura starts the top of the 4th with a single to left -- first hit off Lester tonight.

Bossman Junior takes ball one inside, followed by strike two off the plate away. After fouling off a couple, Upton goes down swinging for Lester's fifth K.

Lester hits Pena with strike one inside, after Chip Caray repeats the most tired of cliches, "One swing could turn this game around." The shift works as Pena hits one to Pedroia, who tosses to Youkilis, who covers second and forces out Iwamura.

Longoria comes up with 2 outs and takes a strike. He belts it into the right field corner, the third base coach is waving Pena all the way....relay throw is close, Pena beats the tag! It's all tied up at 1-1 now.

Very bang-bang, nice play, good aggressiveness. Longoria's at 2nd, Crawford is down 0-2 now after swinging at a bad ball out of the zone. Youkilis tries to go for a foul ball, but it lands out of play.

"If he sees it, he thinks he can catch it." - Buck, on Youk.

Crawford goes down swinging on a high fastball, but it's knotted now.

Top 5th Inning

Just watch. We've got ourselves a pitcher's duel now.

Kotsay takes two straight balls from the Jesus. He gets to a 3-1 count, then pops up to Iwamura at 2nd base.

Varitek gets ready to take his second hack, struck out the first time.

"Garza's thrown 71 pitches. In Game 7, that's about 40 pitches." - Buck
"Spoken like a true manager." - Ron

Garza gets Tek to ground out on the first pitch, and now it's Cora's 2nd time up. Strike one in a good location. Strike two is FILTHY. Nice breaking ball from Garza, and another nasty one for strike three. Sit down, Alex.

"Any manager will tell you that the hitters tell you when a pitcher doesn't have his stuff any more." - Buck

Bottom 5th Inning

Willy Aybar takes strike one as Lester keeps attacking inside to the righties. Strike 2 is in about the same place. Ball 1 in the dirt. Aybar leans out and digs for the ball, driving it into the left field corner and missing a homer by feet. Nice piece of hitting.

Navarro up takes a ball inside.

"You can see John Madden...pfft...Joe Maddon sizing up whether to bunt." - Buck, who was looking forward to meeting the Turducken King until he heard he was going to take the week off. Navarro's working the count well, it's 3-0 and the crowd and the bells are getting louder. Maybe it's the dome, but this is the loudest baseball game I've heard in some time. Lester hits the inside corner for a 3-1 count. Navarro pops it out of play, full count. Ground ball to short, Cora doesn't have a play after Aybar holds. 1st and 2nd, no outs.

Rocco Baldelli gets strike one. He nails the ball, but just a bit late, and it's a 400-foot towering foul ball. Base hit in to left, Aybar scores, it's 2-1, Tampa! 1st and 2nd again, with Navarro leading and Baldelli coming through.

"And how big are two out hits in the post-season?" - Chip, forgetting that there are no outs.

Garza v. Cora to end top of 5th: Fastball 94 mph, Curveball 75 mph, Slider 86 mph (per mlb.com). All for strikes. That is amazing control of 3 pitches and changing speeds. - Mal

That is insanely good stuff.

Did you see the shot of Vitale going nuts after Baldelli's RBI single? - Mal

Dammit! No, I missed that. I was rushing to type. Awesome with a capital A, baby!

Bartlett's got an 0-2 count on him, and Lester gets him to strike out for out #1. Iwamura grounds out to Lester, runners move to 2nd and 3rd with two outs for Bossman Junior.

Upton strokes a golf shot foul down the left field line to start. He lines out to short to end the inning, but Garza gets a one-run lead to go back to the mound with.

Top 6th Inning

Crisp up to face Garza for the third time. Garza gets him to 0-2 on a nasty breaking ball. The Jesus throws three straight balls to get to a full count. Crisp hits a tapper back to Garza, who fields it well and shovels it to Pena for the out.

"Six leadoff batters in a row." - Ron
"That's the Jon Lester formula." - Chip

Pedroia takes a fastball down the middle for strike one. Next pitch misses. Another fast one away for a 1-2 count, and the cowbells are going gangbusters with the thought of another K. THE COWBELLS WANT BLOOD. That one just missed (but it looked way wide from the proper angle.) Pedroia bats the next one foul past third base, fouls another one -- and a few more. Full count after a ball outside. Pedroia takes ball four low and away.

Garza gets Ortiz to wave at strike one. Takes a look at a ball, Ortiz then swings and misses down in the inner half. 2-2 after a ball in the dirt.

"That's fisted over to the Red Sox dug out" - Chip Caray as a fly ball lands in the fourth row...(via JFein)

Full count after a fastball away. Fastball inside, Pedroia goes...Ortiz misses, and Pedroia is NAILED at second!

What awful camera work on the DP - Bazooka Jones

TBS, the Versus of baseball.

Those Volkswagen ads with the talking Beetle used to be funny until Brooke Shields got involved. Funny how that works, huh?

Bottom 6th Inning

Carlos Pena up to start. Lester gets him to pop out to third for the first out.

Longoria hits a towering fly ball, but Jason Bay has it easily.

Crawford hits a fly fairly deep to center, Crisp gets a beat on it and Lester is done in short order with the sixth inning.

Top 7th Inning

How much longer can Garza go? He's at 100 pitches, probably one more inning if he doesn't have to work too hard. Then again, I'm not a major league manager. When to pull Garza will be an important call for Joe Maddon.

Youkilis up. Low and inside, ball one. Bartlett moves in behind Iwamura, takes the pop up for the first out.

"After the first pitch, Garza looked down at the bullpen, saw two guys getting warmed up, and got more focused. 'This is my game, boys.'" - Buck

Drew gets a 2-0 count, and gets a 3-0 on the next pitch. Drew takes a walk on four pitches. Navarro and Garza talk it over as Jason Bay comes to the plate. Strike one on the inside breaking ball. Bay then knocks a single into left. 1st and 2nd, one out. Maddon makes his first trip to the mound.

Mark Kotsay's got a chance to knock one. Strike one on a pop foul. Ball one in the dirt. Ball two is high. Kotsay flies out to left; Drew tags and heads to third.

Varitek fouls the first pitch to right field; he then holds up his swing on a pitch in the dirt. Another pop foul for a 1-2 count. Garza gets him swinging! Navarro throws him out at first, with the ball in the dirt, and the Jesus wriggles off the hook!

I HAVE A FEVER AND THE ONLY PRESCRIPTION IS MORE COWBELL! - James Craven

Don't we all?

Bottom 7th Inning

Willy Aybar's up against Jon Lester, taking strike one and fouling off the next for a second strike. He takes two straight balls. Very close on that 3-2, right off the corner. AYBAR TATTOOED THAT MOFO OUT. 3-1, RAYS.

Day-um.

Navarro pops to right on a 1-2 count. J.D. Drew has it.

Baldelli comes up for his third time at the plate. He strikes out, making the 8th for Lester. (Garza's gotten nine on strikes.)

Bartlett fouls off three straight pitches, then flies out to Crisp in center.

"Baldelli's a young man that was compared to Joe DiMaggio" - Chip
"Yeah, you just have to look at his number." - Ron [The 5 on the back of his jersey.]

If TB wasn't leading, Yankee fans may find yet another reason to throw something at their TV's... - Anon

Top 8th Inning

Six outs to go for Tampa. Matt Garza's still pitching. Maddon doesn't want to yank him until he absolutely has to. Alex Cora fouls off the first pitch, and a ground ball eats up Bartlett at short. Cora on with the error, and Maddon's going to the bullpen.

Garza gets a massive ovation, well deserved. Dan Wheeler comes in. He throws two balls, gets Crisp to foul one off. Coco fouls a bunt attempt, he got antsy. Crisp hits one through the right side, 1st and 2nd, nobody out.

"You give the Red Sox life. They take the life away from you." - Chip

Pedroia up, takes a strike. Wheeler gets him to fly out to Crawford, runners stay put. Wheeler's night is done, as Maddon calls for J.P. Howell.

Howell's on to face David Ortiz. Throws a breaker on the inside for strike one. Ortiz fouls a grounder for an 0-2 count. High fastball for ball 1, sinker low and away for ball 2. After fouling out numerous pitches, Ortiz grounds to Iwamura, who throws a force to Bartlett to take Crisp out -- and Crisp would have beaten it if he'd gone for the bag. Another pitching change.

Chad Bradford, the submariner, is throwing. Youkilis up. Inside near his legs, ball one. 2-0 on the next pitch. 3-0, inside again. Finally, a strike. Fouled off, 3-2. Youk holds up, ball 4. Bases loaded for J.D. Drew, and David Price is coming in to face him.

First pitch slider in for a strike from Price. 87 mph breaker for strike 2. Fastball, 96 mph, away for ball 1. FROZE HIM ON THE OUTSIDE CORNER. Nasty, nasty, nasty. Nice job, David.

Bottom 8th Inning

97 mph on the outside corner. Which Vandy grad has a stronger arm? Price or Cutler? - Mal

Good question.

On the David Price strikeout:

Chip:

Best thing he's said all night. - Rick James Bible Owner

Iwamura up against Hideki Okajima. Grounds out to Pedroia, who has to rush the throw, but gets him.

Bossman Junior comes up now. He tags one into shallow center and Coco Crisp makes a nice sliding catch for the second out.

Pena busts one off foul for strike one.

"There might be mutiny if Price doesn't go out to start the 9th." - Buck

"A high strike evens, or makes it 0-2 to Pena, beg your pardon." - Chip

Pena takes ball one in the dirt, and then takes strike three high. Three outs to go for the Rays and an American League pennant.

Top 9th Inning

"He has a chance to pick up a win and a save in the postseason before he's had either in the regular season." - Buck on David Price (via Mal)

It's Bay, Kotsay, and Varitek. Price nails strike one, then throws a sinker low to even it out. Ball two is way inside, getting Bay to go down to the dirt. Fouled back out of play. 2-2. Fouled off again. Bay just holds off his swing on the high heat. He fouls off the next one. Bay takes a walk.

Kotsay comes to the plate. He bunts foul for strike one, fouls the next one for strike two. High cheese for ball one. 2-2 after a 95-mph fastball just off the corner. STRIKE THREE ON THE OUTSIDE CORNER. Again, filthy, filthy, filthy.

Ball one to Varitek. Tek then swings and misses a fastball. Next pitch is fouled back for strike two. Super-high and outside for ball two. TEK GOES DOWN SWINGING. One more out to go, and David Price is just ringing it up.

JED LOWRIE GROUNDS OUT TO IWAMURA FOR THE FORCE, AND THE RAYS ARE YOUR AL CHAMPIONS!!!!!

Man, what a game!

they should have sent a poet.

/contact'd - Dan

FOX's nightmare comes true! - Luis

"From 9 equals 8 to 9 equals 2, Joe Maddon and his Tampa Bay Rays will face the Phillies in the World Series." - Chip

Thanks for joining me, everybody. We'll have World Series live blogs next weekend, I'm sure. Have fun and see you next weekend!

Josh Beckett, man of few words, pitching tonight in Tampa. (Video courtesy of Texas Gal @ Center Field.)

Did TBS' signal take a schvitz? For some reason I have Dick Clark showing news bloopers instead of the pre-game show. And now, Steve Harvey? Eff this. Back to football.

Hey, MLB: why not award the broadcast rights to a real station with a back-up plan if its signal takes a complete dump? Just a thought.'

I don't have the heart to follow the game on radio, not when there's football on. Feel free to follow the action here and talk amongst yourselves while I remain pissed off.

OK, the signal exists.....so we'll do this now. 2nd inning, Youkilis up against Shields....and he just crushed one to tie the game. at 1. If you missed it, B.J. Upton jacked one off Beckett in the first inning, while the rest of us were watching Steve Harvey and bitching.

And J.D. Drew missed back-to-back jacks by inches. He knocks a 2-2 pitch through the right side of the infield for a single. Jason Bay is up -- and Evan Longoria makes a great pick on a grounder on the left side to force Drew out at 2nd. WOW. Throwing that off balance is impressive.

Kotsay up. Shields gets him to whiff on a fastball, but knocks the next pitch past Carlos Pena at first base. 1st and 2nd, one out.

"We're back, and you haven't missed much." - Chip Caray. I'd say a home run is a lot, asshat. (via Anon)

Fly out for the 2nd out by Jed Lowrie, as Upton tracks it down, and now we're watching Jason Varitek hit in the 9 hole with 2 outs, and we learn that James Shields is Aaron Rowand's cousin. 1-1 after an inside fastball. 1-2 pitch goes off the umpire's mask. Popped to left, Crawford's got it.

1-1 game in the middle of the 2nd.

"Chip Caray, nepotism at its finest." - Vegas Cabbie
"TBS wins the Rudy Martzke Memorial Dreaded Glitch Award." - James Craven

Carl Crawford grounds out on the first pitch to Pedroia. Cliff Floyd takes a strike. He's got an 0-2 count, and Buck Martinez made a good point about Beckett trying to off-speed his way out of this start. Another breaking ball gets Floyd looking for the second out. Dioner Navarro flies out to Drew in right. Still tied after 2 innings.

Crisp is up with a 1-1 count right now, takes a ball high. 2-2 after he pops another one back; he then flies out to Upton. There's enough cowbell to satiate Christopher Walken's fever in St. Pete. Two close pitches called balls by the umpire against Pedroia. 3-0 count now. Pedroia draws a walk on what looked like strike 2, but it missed on the tracker. Big Papi is up, ball one is low. Ortiz knocks one down the first base line for a double, and Pedroia stops at third. That's one way to beat the shift. Youkilis drives in Pedroia with a ground out to short. Boston takes a 2-1 lead. 2 outs for J.D. Drew, whom Shields walks to get to Jason Bay.

Shields throws a nice slider to get a 1-2 count on Bay. Next one's in the dirt and Navarro blocks it. Next pitch is a ball, full count. Fouled back. Bay draws a walk with a change-up outside. Bases loaded for Mark Kotsay.

Shields throws 2 straight balls to the first baseman, make that 3.

"You gotta wonder if this isn't a result of the long rest, he hasn't pitched in 8 days." - Buck Martinez

Kotsay flies a long way out to Upton in center; middle of three and the Sawx are up by one.

Beckett gets Gabe Gross looking to open the bottom of the inning, and we go to Craig Sager, who has a wild design on his tie, but at least it matches the jacket tonight. He plunks Bartlett on an 0-2 count, and Beckett's griping about him leaning into it. Iwamura comes up for the second time tonight. He's drawn a 2-0 count, as Beckett and Varitek pay attention to Barlett at first. 3-0 after another high pitch.

"And the problem is, Babe Ruth's on deck." - Buck Martinez, referring to B.J. Upton with the 3-1 count now. Iwamura pops up to Pedroia, and up comes Bossman Junior.

"That pitch humped up to 93." - Chip Caray, earlier (from JFein)

0-2 on Upton after he swung for the fences again. Pitch is just outside, 1-2. Next one's down and fouled off. 2-2 after another one outside. Upton hits it back to the mound, and Beckett's out of the inning.

So, we're back for the 4th inning, and the home plate ump is coming out because of that ball he got nicked on when Varitek was at the plate last. This means we're going to have some variance again as pitchers get used to the strike zone of whomever will be handling balls and strikes.

Oof, feeling lousy...will have to call this off. Keep watching and have fun. See you later.